Liverpool as we know it is steeped in history and culture, however it once only had seven streets.
The city has come a long way since then and is now a major city known across the globe. Liverpool transformed from just these few streets during a period of seemingly boundless growth fuelled by our port.
However, it hasn't always been a straightforward trajectory of growth. Liverpool has survived some grave challenges but fought back from the brink and fought for its future.
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Back in 2019, the ECHO looked back at how it all started in the city, from just seven streets to the Liverpool we know and love. The seven streets still exist today.
This whistle-stop tour of the city's fascinating history charts the period of boundless growth through to "managed decline" and back again. Take a look below at Li1verpool's fascinating evolution.
The seven streets mark a new beginning
Liverpool's remarkable history goes back much further than the seven streets that spawned the city we know today. But those seven streets did mark its origins when a new town was laid out near the Pool, a creek which gave Liverpool its name.
In 1207, King John established a new town of seven streets - "Livpul". This provided him with a safe harbour and attracted settlers from nearby areas to live in the new borough.
This small new borough represented a new chance for many people and Liverpool Castle was completed soon after in 1235. The structure stood on the spot where the Victoria monument is now, but the city's original seven streets still remain to this day.
Liverpool's seven streets were Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).
Castle Street formed the spine of the settlement, with the historic street plan and St Nicholas Church remaining to reflect the town's mediaeval origins. Liverpool Castle was demolished in 1729, with Paradise Street following the line of the Pool.
Liverpool - capital of the slave trade and why we must never forget this history
The city as we know it today was born - but it would take a long time for it to rise to the global superpower it would later become at the centre of transatlantic trade. It was the growth of trade with America and the West Indies that would eventually see Liverpool growing rich and powerful.
Liverpool is a city that has a lot to be proud of. It has become known the world over for its welcoming spirit, inclusive culture and outward-looking attitude. However, our tolerant and modern city has a shameful history of slavery and exploitation that we must never forget.
Much of Liverpool's history was built on the back of a transatlantic slave trade that dealt in human lives, forcing countless people into conditions of degradation and brutality.
Trading in human lives made the city rich and powerful, leaving a permanent mark for generations to come. The slave trade - and the wealth it generated - played an instrumental role in shaping the face of Liverpool as we know it.
Liverpool was the European capital of the slave trade from the 1780s right up until slavery was abolished in Britain in 1807. The city's maritime history played a crucial role in bringing Liverpool to a position of global power and prominence.
Mersey ships forcibly carried nearly 1.5m Africans into slavery, as people were transported to the Americas and the Caribbean. Liverpool merchants were mercenary in undercutting their rivals’ costs, reducing turnaround times and increasing the flexibility of operations, developing close relationships with African slave traders.
Slave ships were often built or repaired in Liverpool, with the 'Liverpool Merchant' being the first recorded slave ship to sail from Liverpool. She set sail in October 1699 and arrived in Barbados in September 1700, with a cargo of 220 enslaved Africans.
The part owner of 'Liverpool Merchant', Sir Thomas Johnson, is known as the 'founder of modern Liverpool'. By 1795, Liverpool controlled over 80% of the British and over 40% of the entire European slave trade, overtaking Bristol and London.
As a result, much of the city's wealth in the 18th century came from the trade. The personal and civic wealth gained from slavery cemented the foundations for the port's future growth.
It is impossible to divorce Liverpool's maritime and commercial growth from the horrors of the slave trade. Acknowledging Liverpool's roots as a hub for the slave trading can be incredibly uncomfortable - but it is vital this shameful history is never swept under the carpet.
A city of firsts
The city's importance as a trading power stretched far beyond the transatlantic slave trade, with the city growing to lead the world market in cotton. In 1754, the Town Hall, designed with a covered exchange for merchants, was built and the Corn Exchange opened in around 1810 with the city's first office buildings.
Throughout Liverpool's remarkable history, the city has been shaped by each new wave of immigration coming in through its port. In the 1840s, Irish migrants began arriving by the thousands as they were driven out by the Great Famine - and by 1851 around a quarter of the city was Irish-born.
From the 1850s right up into the early 20th century, the city also attracted thousands of people from Wales every year, with Welsh culture flourishing in areas like Toxteth's Welsh streets. The Irish influence on Liverpool is still clear to see around the city today, from the historic Irish centre to the pubs and landmarks that reflect our immigrant roots.
As the town became a leading port in the British Empire, a number of major buildings were constructed, including St. George's Hall in 1854 and Lime Street Station. Liverpool was granted city status in 1880, just one year before the university was established.
As the city went from strength to strength, its boundless growth was reflected in a number of world firsts that showed just how important it had become. In 1893, Liverpool opened the world's first ever overhead electric railway - beating the more famous examples of New York City and Chicago.
The building of the Anglican Cathedral began in 1904, and by 1916 the three Pier Head buildings, including the Liver Building, were finished. With a constant growth in the population, the boundaries also continued to expand - taking in Kirkdale, Walton, West Derby, Toxteth and Garston.
Formerly independent urban districts, Allerton, Childwall, Little Woolton and Much Woolton were added in 1913, and the parish of Speke added in 1932. Liverpool was riding the crest of a wave at the peak of the city's economic success. It was even seen as the "second city" of the British Empire.
Liverpool's fortunes sink
After decades of what felt like boundless growth for the city, Liverpool's fortunes sunk to their lowest postwar point in the 1980s, under Thatcher's Conservative Britain. There weren't many places in the country that were prospering in the 1970s as unemployment rose and economic difficulties abounded.
But in the early 80s, things went from bad to worse for workers in Liverpool with more and more factory closures. The city came to have some of the highest unemployment rates in the UK, with people leaving the city and swathes of land left vacant or derelict.
Growing tensions and dissatisfaction seemed to come to a head in 1981, when the Toxteth Riots took place on the city's streets. The docks continued to decline and more factories closed until unemployment topped 20% in 1985.
A city fighting back from the brink
Margaret Thatcher was urged to abandon Liverpool to "managed decline" after the riots - but the city fought back, rebuilt and regenerated. The 1990s mark the beginning of a turnaround in the Liverpool's fortunes as it worked hard to pick up the pieces of a city left to rot by a Tory government.
Work began to redevelop the city’s famous waterfront area in 1982, with the final undeveloped space brought back into use by 2003. There was virtually no commercial shipping activity at Albert Dock after 1920, though its warehouses continued to be used for some years. But after decades of disuse, the dock was abandoned in 1972.
The success of the waterfront regeneration was reflected by ITV's decision to launch This Morning live from a studio inside the Albert Dock. Tourism has grown to become a significant driving force in Liverpool's economy, with The Beatles, two Premier League football clubs and a wealth of incredible attractions drawing in visitors to the city.
In 2003, Liverpool won European Capital of Culture for 2008, beating other British cities like Newcastle and Birmingham and securing an impact that is still felt over a decade on. Liverpool has seen its fair share of challenges and triumphs - and reminders of this remarkable history can be found throughout the city.
It's come a very long way from the seven streets that birthed this mega city.
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