Long before Liverpool ONE was built, St Johns Market was a must visit for anyone planning on spending a day shopping in the city.
The new St Johns Shopping Centre was built in the 1969 and officially opened by the Queen in 1971.
The most striking part of the large indoor market was St Johns beacon which is now known as the Radio City Tower.
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Built as the shopping centre's ventilation shaft, the iconic beacon was awarded Grade II listed status by Historic England in 2020, with particular praise being given to its "space age" design.
But before this most recognisable landmark took its place as part of the city's world famous skyline, there was an original indoor market building whose architecture had its own admirers.
The original St John's Market was opened in 1822 and soon became a landmark for visitors to the city.
The vast building between Great Charlotte Street and Market Street, designed by John Foster junior, was divided into five huge shopping avenues.
American painter and naturalist John James Audubon wrote in his diary in 1826: “The new market is in my opinion, an object worth the attention of all traveller strangers. It is thus far the finest I have ever seen.”
John Foster Junior's design was one of the first fully-enclosed market halls in Britain and the largest constructed in the 19th century.
The old market consisted of 136 stone-trimmed classical arched window bays, supported by 116 interior cast-iron pillars.
Sadly, it joined it the list of lost Liverpool architecture when it and the streets around it were bulldozed during the 1960s to make way for the new St Johns Shopping Centre.
The demolition of the original 140-year-old building was for some regarded an act of "civic vandalism" - and sadly typical of the many historic buildings lost during the post-war building boom.
While that centre was being built, the market moved to a temporary new home on Great Charlotte Street, opposite Blacklers store.
The sign on the temporary building calls it St John’s Retail Market – the apostrophe has disappeared from the market’s name nowadays.
After surviving two major fires in the 1970s, the new shopping centre has undergone several attempts to revamp its image and layout to attract more customers.
In July 2013, it underwent a £1.6 million refurbishment to completely renovate the food court and modernise the lower-ground area as well as the atria around the escalators and the first floor balustrading.
In June 2016, a £2 million refurbishment saw the market spread over two floors around a central atrium, increasing in the number of stalls in the market from 90 to approximately 120.
In an attempt to update the premises from what was considered a dated, 1970s look, the new market was refurbished to look brighter and sleeker with modern-looking stalls.
Speaking to the ECHO in 2020, Colin Laphan, chair of St John’s Market Traders’ Association, said: “[the market] has always had a real community feel. It’s a place where you can get fresh produce and have a conversation. Shoppers share jokes with the stallholders, and meet old friends who have also been coming here for years.
“It’s the People’s Market.”
T he ECHO has launched a new 56-page nostalgia supplement in print. It's packed with photos from the recent past and the not-so-recent, from shopping, fashion and music to the Albert Dock – plus an elephant on parade in Woolton. You can order a copy here.
