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This collection of photographs traces the emergence of Liverpool over 25 years to a world renowned Unesco World Heritage designated City.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries this remarkable waterfront was the lifeblood of Liverpool and defined its visual identity on a global scale. It is renowned amongst residents, sailors and tourists alike for the imposing architectural trinity of the elegant Three Graces buildings that hold court over the Pier Head and the mighty river Mersey.

This awe-inspiring waterfront is even more impressive in the 21st century as it takes on the mantle of a modern metropolis while also revelling in its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. And within the waterfronts World Heritage boundary can also be found Jesse Hartley's wonderful Grade I listed Albert Dock.

Francesco Bandarin, Director of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris comments: The city's outstanding universal value is embodied in its panoramic waterfront and other key architectural features, and is reflected in its historical contribution to the major mercantile systems throughout the British Commonwealth. Indeed, the river Mersey - one of the world's great waterways - has been a magnet for people for centuries; the swirling occasionally unruly tides reflecting Liverpool's own historical and contemporary ebbs and flows: socially, economically and politically; and in the past was pivotal to the emergence of the city as probably the most important seaport in the world.

The Duke of Westminster observes: 'Liverpool is now most definitely a world waterfront city in every respect.'

Phil Redmond, TV mogul and chairman of National Museums Liverpool, observes: 'Liverpool is a place that is always anticipating the turn of the tide. Looking for the new idea that will sweep away the old and usher in the new. Ignore it and you will be ignored. Embrace it and you will be embraced, regardless of political hue.'

Guy Woodland (Photographer/Publisher)

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Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City

Six areas in the historic centre and docklands of the maritime mercantile City of Liverpool bear witness to the development of one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries. Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management. The listed sites feature a great number of significant commercial, civic and public buildings, including St George’s Plateau.

The view of Liverpool's waterfront was once very different from that of today. Where the world-famous riverside now stands was the tidal reach of the Mersey, merging with the Pool from which the town drew its name. The River Mersey is a tidal basin that flows into the Irish Sea and this geographical relationship was the foundation of its emergent overseas trade starting in the days of King John, who granted Liverpool its charter in 1207. The Pool was the safest mooring place for boats, and the borough council petitioned parliament to introduce legislation to build the first commercial wet dock in the world in 1715. For decades standing still until the Thatcher government started a process of redevelopment under the carful eyes of Heseltine, a process that included the redevelopment of the albert Dock and continued to the Beetham Tower development which in one singular move changed the skyline for the first time in decades. This process continued with other landmark occasions, recognition in 2004 by UNESCO, followed by Capital of Culture in 2008 and the 2009 development by The Duke of Westminster's Liverpool ONE and finally the new Liverpool museum due to open in 2011.

© English Heritage/National Monuments Record