England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Liverpool St Nicholas

The Parish

Liverpool is one of England's largest ports and cities, it is made up of numerous parishes and St Nicholas is the main parish for the port of Liverpool. Liverpool is sited on the banks of the River Mersey which separates it from the Wirral area of Cheshire. It is thus in the extreme southwest of the ancient county of Lancashire. Liverpool is a relatively modern phenomenon, there was little here prior to the Elizabethan era, indeed the area was still just part of the wider parish of Walton on the Hill until the late 17th century. Nowadays Liverpool is a vast conurbation spreading for many miles both north and south of its origins but also inland too spreading to engulf what were separate villages until recent times. Liverpool was, at the commencement of this transcripts period, a small port with 4 parishes of which St Nicholas was the largest being based on the original port. Like all urban parishes St Nicholas covered a very small area, a few hundred yards of quayside and the streets immediately behind the frontage. By the time this transcript completes there are 17 parishes licensed for marriage and numerous villages engulfed with their own records. Today the area around St Nicholas shows little trace of the bustling port as most trade has moved out of the centre to modern purpose built container ports. The Pier Head, within St Nicholas' parish, is still, however, the beating heart of Liverpool and the centre from which all public transport emanates.

The Church

St Nicholas's church is located close to the Pier Head and only a few yards from the River Mersey itself. The church sits on an open site on the corner of Old Church St and Chapel Street but is hemmed in by office blocks on most sides. Sadly the original church was destroyed by the carpet bombing of Liverpool's dockland in World War II, it had been a 14th century church. The earliest surviving part of the current church is the early 19th century steeple which miraculously survived. After the war a rather functional pseudo-Gothic church was built to butt up against the remaining steeple. The site is a challenge to photograph as neighbouring office towers make it difficult to get back far enough to acquire a panoramic view (a phenomenon shared by many urban churches).