Few people are aware that the worlds largest brick-built warehouse structure lies along the River Mersey at Stanley Dock in Liverpool. Standing at 125 feet, the Liverpool Tobacco Warehouse building was, at the time of its construction in 1901, claimed to be the world's largest building in terms of area. The 14 storey building spans across 36 acres and its construction used 27 million bricks, 30,000 panes of glass and 8,000 tons of steel. The structure is so large that I struggled to fit it all into one image with a wide angle lens. Stanley Dock is accessible from the dock system or by barge from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal which enters under Great Howard Street bridge, where vast quantities of tobacco were shipped in daily for storage and redistribution inside the warehouse. Victoria Tower, which was often referred to as the 'docker's clock', was built as an aid to ships in the port, as it allowed them to set the correct time as they sailed out into the Irish Sea, while its bell warned of impending meteorological changes such as high tide and fog. Upon its completion is also served as a flat for the Pier Master. With the decline of trade going through Liverpool, the warehouse fell into disuse in the 1980s and gradually into disrepair. More recently the building has featured in the Stop the Rot conservation campaign by the Liverpool Echo newspaper. Part of the vast space on the ground floor of the warehouse was used for some time for the Sunday Heritage Market branded ‘Camden 2’. It is now said that planning permission is underway for extensive reconstruction of a large part of the warehouse and it’s surrounding area to be converted into apartments, meaning that at some point in the near future the area may well resemble the luxury and aesthetics of the Albert Docks just two miles further down the road.
