Bluecoat Chambers - Revision history

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	Over the years the Bluecoat hosted a range of cultural and arts-associated events. These included art exhibitions, debates, discussions, public meetings and campaigns, poetry readings, musical concerts and recitals, and cultural lectures. It held book, record, and antiques fairs and became a centre for working artists and craftspeople.<ref name=echo/>		Over the years the Bluecoat hosted a range of cultural and arts-associated events. These included art exhibitions, debates, discussions, public meetings and campaigns, poetry readings, musical concerts and recitals, and cultural lectures. It held book, record, and antiques fairs and became a centre for working artists and craftspeople.<ref name=echo/>

	Some of the events have continued to hold a place in history. The 1908 exhibition of works mostly by members of the [https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/library/sandon-studios-society Sandon Society] also included the first showing in Liverpool of [[Claude Monet]] who received a special invite.<ref>Richmond, 2001, p. 58.</ref> In 1911, the Sandon Society took on parts of [[Roger Fry]]'s London [[Post-Impressionist]] exhibition, showing works by [[Picasso]], [[Matisse]], [[Cézanne]], and [[Van Gogh]] for the first time in the UK outside the capital.<ref name=echo/> In 1967 [[Yoko Ono]] appeared at the Bluecoat, at a time before she met [[John Lennon]].<ref>{{citation \|url= ~~http~~://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/image_galleries/yoko_bluecoat_gallery.shtml?4 \|title= Yoko Ono in Liverpool \|access-date=2008-10-12 \|publisher= BBC Liverpool}}</ref>		Some of the events have continued to hold a place in history. The 1908 exhibition of works mostly by members of the [https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/library/sandon-studios-society Sandon Society] also included the first showing in Liverpool of [[Claude Monet]] who received a special invite.<ref>Richmond, 2001, p. 58.</ref> In 1911, the Sandon Society took on parts of [[Roger Fry]]'s London [[Post-Impressionist]] exhibition, showing works by [[Picasso]], [[Matisse]], [[Cézanne]], and [[Van Gogh]] for the first time in the UK outside the capital.<ref name=echo/> In 1967 [[Yoko Ono]] appeared at the Bluecoat, at a time before she met [[John Lennon]].<ref>{{citation \|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/image_galleries/yoko_bluecoat_gallery.shtml?4 \|title= Yoko Ono in Liverpool \|access-date=2008-10-12 \|publisher= BBC Liverpool}}</ref>
	The Bluecoat was also visited by performing artists as [[Stravinsky]], [[Michael Nyman]], [[Doris Lessing]] and the Last Poets.		The Bluecoat was also visited by performing artists as [[Stravinsky]], [[Michael Nyman]], [[Doris Lessing]] and the Last Poets.

	==Bluecoat today==		==Bluecoat today==
	The Bluecoat was reopened on 15 March 2008, during Liverpool's year as a [[European Capital of Culture]], by [[Andy Burnham]], the [[Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport]].<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200801/cultural-secretary-at-bluecoat.aspx \|title= Cultural Secretary Andy Burnham attends historic Bluecoat opening \|access-date= 2008-10-11 \|publisher= [[Northwest Regional Development Agency]] \|url-status= dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080725055926/http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200801/cultural-secretary-at-bluecoat.aspx \|archive-date= 25 July 2008 \|df= dmy-all }}</ref> The opening exhibition, entitled ''Now Then'', showed work by five artists, including Yoko Ono.<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news.asp?sc=&sId=170871&sType=review \|title= Review: Now Then, The Bluecoat, Liverpool \|access-date= 2008-10-12 \|last= Sorensen \|first= Emma \|date= 2008-03-19 \|work= Arts Hub \|publisher= Arts Hub Holdings \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720024153/http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news.asp?sc=&sId=170871&sType=review \|archive-date= 20 July 2008 \|url-status= dead }}</ref> During the early summer a display entitled ''Mr Roscoe's Garden'', comprising part of Liverpool's Botanic Collection, was held.<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2008/05/19/cap_culture_botanic_chelsea_feature.shtml \|title= Mr Roscoe's Garden at Bluecoat \|access-date=2008-10-12 \|last= Coslett \|first= Paul \|date= 2008-06-20 \|publisher= [[BBC]] Liverpool }}</ref>		The Bluecoat was reopened on 15 March 2008, during Liverpool's year as a [[European Capital of Culture]], by [[Andy Burnham]], the [[Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport]].<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200801/cultural-secretary-at-bluecoat.aspx \|title= Cultural Secretary Andy Burnham attends historic Bluecoat opening \|access-date= 2008-10-11 \|publisher= [[Northwest Regional Development Agency]] \|url-status= dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080725055926/http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200801/cultural-secretary-at-bluecoat.aspx \|archive-date= 25 July 2008 \|df= dmy-all }}</ref> The opening exhibition, entitled ''Now Then'', showed work by five artists, including Yoko Ono.<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news.asp?sc=&sId=170871&sType=review \|title= Review: Now Then, The Bluecoat, Liverpool \|access-date= 2008-10-12 \|last= Sorensen \|first= Emma \|date= 2008-03-19 \|work= Arts Hub \|publisher= Arts Hub Holdings \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720024153/http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news.asp?sc=&sId=170871&sType=review \|archive-date= 20 July 2008 \|url-status= dead }}</ref> During the early summer a display entitled ''Mr Roscoe's Garden'', comprising part of Liverpool's Botanic Collection, was held.<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2008/05/19/cap_culture_botanic_chelsea_feature.shtml \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121113021135/http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2008/05/19/cap_culture_botanic_chelsea_feature.shtml \|url-status= dead \|archive-date= 13 November 2012 \|title= Mr Roscoe's Garden at Bluecoat \|access-date=2008-10-12 \|last= Coslett \|first= Paul \|date= 2008-06-20 \|publisher= [[BBC]] Liverpool }}</ref>

	The Bluecoat organises exhibitions, events, education programmes and concerts.<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/component/option,com_events/Itemid,14/ \|title= what's happening \|access-date= 2008-10-12 \|publisher= Bluecoat Chambers \|url-status= dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090116132655/http://thebluecoat.org.uk/component/option%2Ccom_events/Itemid%2C14 \|archive-date= 16 January 2009 \|df= dmy-all }}</ref> It also contains 22 artists studios. The Bluecoat Cafe serves a variety of homemade and locally sourced food and drink.<ref>{{citation \|url= https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/plan-your-visit/our-cafe \|title= Cafe \|access-date=2008-10-12 \|publisher= Bluecoat Chambers}}</ref>		The Bluecoat organises exhibitions, events, education programmes and concerts.<ref>{{citation \|url= http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/component/option,com_events/Itemid,14/ \|title= what's happening \|access-date= 2008-10-12 \|publisher= Bluecoat Chambers \|url-status= dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090116132655/http://thebluecoat.org.uk/component/option%2Ccom_events/Itemid%2C14 \|archive-date= 16 January 2009 \|df= dmy-all }}</ref> It also contains 22 artists studios. The Bluecoat Cafe serves a variety of homemade and locally sourced food and drink.<ref>{{citation \|url= https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/plan-your-visit/our-cafe \|title= Cafe \|access-date=2008-10-12 \|publisher= Bluecoat Chambers}}</ref>

149.107.64.42: /* Bluecoat today */

2024-10-29T12:01:35Z

Bluecoat today

New page

{{Short description|Grade I listed building, now arts centre, in Liverpool, United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox Historic building
|name=The Bluecoat
|image=Bluecoat Chambers - Liverpool.jpg
|caption=
|former_names = Bluecoat School <br /> Bluecoat Chambers <br /> Bluecoat Arts Centre
|location = School Lane, [[Liverpool]],<br />[[Merseyside]], England
|map_type = United Kingdom Liverpool Central
|map_size = 180
|coordinates = {{coord|53.4042|-2.9839|display=inline}}
|architect=
|client=
|engineer=
|construction_start_date=1716
|completion_date=1725
|date_demolished=
|cost=
|structural_system=
|style=[[Queen Anne style architecture|Queen Anne]]
|website={{URL|http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/}}
}}

Built in 1716–17 as a [[charity school]], '''Bluecoat Chambers''' in School Lane is the oldest surviving building in central [[Liverpool]], [[England]].<ref name=pev>{{citation | last =Pollard| first =Richard | author2 =Nikolaus Pevsner | author2-link =Nikolaus Pevsner | title =The Buildings of England: Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West | publisher =[[Yale University Press]] | year =2006 | location =New Haven & London | pages = 302–304| isbn =0-300-10910-5 }}</ref> Following the [[Liverpool Blue Coat School]]'s move to another site in 1906, the building was rented from 1907 onwards by the Sandon Studios Society.<ref name=story>[http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/files/docs/Bluecoat_Heritage.pdf The story so far] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104160724/http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/files/docs/Bluecoat_Heritage.pdf |date=4 January 2014 }}, The Bluecoat, c. 2008</ref> Based on the presence of this art society and the subsequent formation of the Bluecoat Society of Arts in 1927, the successor organisation laid claim to being the oldest [[arts centre]] in Great Britain, now called '''the Bluecoat'''.

==History==
The school was founded in 1708<ref name="BriefHistory">{{Cite web |title=A brief history of the school |publisher=The Liverpool Blue Coat School |url=http://www.bluecoatschoolliverpool.org.uk/school/index.asp |access-date=2013-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707041720/http://www.bluecoatschoolliverpool.org.uk/school/index.asp |archive-date=7 July 2013 |df=dmy }}</ref> by the Reverend Robert Styth (died 1713<ref name="BriefHistory"/>), rector of Liverpool, and [[Bryan Blundell]], a sea captain and later twice [[Lord Mayor of Liverpool|Mayor of Liverpool]] (1721–22 and 1728–29). Originally constructed in 1716–17, the building was extended until 1718 to function as a [[boarding school]].<ref name="BriefHistory"/> By the following year, it had 50 children, with room for 100 more, and construction was finally completed in 1725.

After the school moved to a new site in [[Wavertree]] in 1906,<ref name=pev/> the building was threatened with demolition. It was rented out from 1907 to the Sandon Studios Society, an independent art school and art society. The building's future still unsecured, it took the intervention of the architect [[Charles Herbert Reilly]], head of the Liverpool School of Architecture. He convinced the industrialist [[William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme|William Lever]] to rent Bluecoat Chambers in 1909 and subsequently buy it, renaming it Liberty Buildings.<ref>Richmond, 2001, pp. 57 ss.</ref> Sharing the space with the Sandon Society, Reilly moved in with his School of Architecture from 1909 until shortly after [[World War I]].<ref>Richmond, 2001, p. 72.</ref> In 1913–14, Lever entertained the thought of a larger building scheme to transform Liberty Buildings into an art centre but, by 1918, got tired with the idea.<ref>Richmond, 2001, p. 71.</ref>
Lever's death in 1925 again led to proposals for demolition. A successful campaign to raise money for the purchase of Bluecoat Chambers resulted in the establishment of the Bluecoat Society of Arts in 1927 as a [[charitable trust]] to run the building.<ref name=story/><ref name=Sharples>{{citation |url= http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Bluecoat%3A+a+brief+history+of+the+Bluecoat,+Liverpool%27s+great...-a0174974764 |title= The Bluecoat: a brief history of the Bluecoat |access-date=2013-03-27 |last= Sharples |first= Joseph |date= January 2008 |work= [[Architectural Review]] }}</ref>

On 3 May 1941, during the [[Liverpool Blitz]], the concert hall and adjoining rooms were severely damaged<ref>[http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpartsblog/2011/05/the-bluecoats-bryan-biggs-give.html Photo of damage] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028062431/http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpartsblog/2011/05/the-bluecoats-bryan-biggs-give.html |date=28 October 2011 }}</ref> by an [[Incendiary device|incendiary bomb]] and during the following night the rear wing was destroyed by a bomb blast.<ref name=echo>{{Citation | last = Anon.| title = History at its heart | newspaper = [[Liverpool Echo]] | date = 2008-03-08 | url = http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-life/liverpool-lifestyle/2008/03/08/history-at-its-heart-100252-20576370/ }}</ref>
Restoration took place after the war, being completed by 1951.<ref>See marble plaque with [[Latin]] [[inscription]] on the building, illustrated below.</ref> It is recorded in the [[National Heritage List for England]] as a designated Grade I [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed building]], having been designated on 28 June 1952.<ref name=images>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1292322|desc= Bluecoat Chambers, Liverpool|access-date= 4 July 2013|mode=cs2}}</ref>

The Bluecoat Display Centre, a contemporary craft gallery, opened in the rear courtyard in 1959.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/gallery/display-centre-at-the-bluecoat|title=The Bluecoat Display Centre|work=Bluecoat|access-date=22 November 2015}}</ref> Being known as the Bluecoat Arts Centre from the 1980s, it is now simply called the Bluecoat.<ref name=story/>
From 2005, the building was further restored and a new wing added. It was reopened in March 2008 to coincide with Liverpool's year as [[European Capital of Culture]].

==Architecture==
The Bluecoat is built in brick with painted stone dressings and a slate roof. H-shaped in plan, originally the rear of the school resembled the front but in 1821 it was remodeled giving it a convex-shaped elevation. The front encloses three sides of a quadrangle and is separated from School Lane by a low wall with railings and gatepiers. The central block of five bays has two storeys with round-arched windows; the central three bays project forwards under a [[pediment]] containing a clock which has only an hour hand. On the roof is an octagonal [[cupola]] with round-arched openings, attached [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns and a copper cap with a [[finial]]. The wings have three storeys; they are eleven bays long and one bay wide. On the ground and first floor the windows are square-headed while those on the top floor are oval. The end elevations have arched windows which match the central block. All the large windows have [[Keystone (architecture)|keystones]] with [[Putto|cherubs]]' heads. The main door in the centre of the central block has Ionic columns with a broken pediment containing a [[Cartouche (design)|cartouche]] of the [[coat of arms|arms]] of Liverpool. Each wing has three square-headed doors approached by steps.<ref name=pev/><ref name=images/> The wall, railings and gate [[pier (architecture)|piers]] on School Lane are also listed at Grade I.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1073446|desc= Railings gates and gate piers Old Bluecoat School, Liverpool |access-date= 4 July 2013|mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

The 2005-2008 renovation at a cost of £14 million also included a new 2250 square metre extension, the architects being BIQ Architecten. The architects found that there were 32 different floor levels in the old building. They carried out much structural change to produce exhibition areas with better accessibility. The new extension is built mainly in brick to link with the old building, although it has a copper roof and more modern materials internally. The new wing houses a flexible performance area and four art galleries.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.e-architect.co.uk/liverpool/bluecoat_arts_centre.htm |title= biq complete the Bluecoat, Liverpool |access-date=2008-10-11 |publisher= e-architect }}</ref> In addition, the complex provides studios for artists and craftspeople, a restaurant and a café and a number of retail outlets.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/content/view/9/26/ |title= What's Available |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher= Bluecoat Chambers}}</ref> On 13 May 2008, a fire broke out in a kitchen on the first floor of the west wing causing significant damage, although 80% of the building was unaffected.<ref>{{citation|last=Rossington|first=Ben|title=Fire sweeps through Bluecoat Arts Centre|date=2008-05-13|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/05/13/fire-sweeps-through-bluecoat-arts-centre-100252-20901992/|work=Liverpool Echo|publisher=Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales|access-date=2008-10-12}}</ref>

==Arts Centre==
Over the years the Bluecoat hosted a range of cultural and arts-associated events. These included art exhibitions, debates, discussions, public meetings and campaigns, poetry readings, musical concerts and recitals, and cultural lectures. It held book, record, and antiques fairs and became a centre for working artists and craftspeople.<ref name=echo/>

Some of the events have continued to hold a place in history. The 1908 exhibition of works mostly by members of the [https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/library/sandon-studios-society Sandon Society] also included the first showing in Liverpool of [[Claude Monet]] who received a special invite.<ref>Richmond, 2001, p. 58.</ref> In 1911, the Sandon Society took on parts of [[Roger Fry]]'s London [[Post-Impressionist]] exhibition, showing works by [[Picasso]], [[Matisse]], [[Cézanne]], and [[Van Gogh]] for the first time in the UK outside the capital.<ref name=echo/> In 1967 [[Yoko Ono]] appeared at the Bluecoat, at a time before she met [[John Lennon]].<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/image_galleries/yoko_bluecoat_gallery.shtml?4 |title= Yoko Ono in Liverpool |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher= BBC Liverpool}}</ref>
The Bluecoat was also visited by performing artists as [[Stravinsky]], [[Michael Nyman]], [[Doris Lessing]] and the Last Poets.

==Bluecoat today==
The Bluecoat was reopened on 15 March 2008, during Liverpool's year as a [[European Capital of Culture]], by [[Andy Burnham]], the [[Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport]].<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200801/cultural-secretary-at-bluecoat.aspx |title= Cultural Secretary Andy Burnham attends historic Bluecoat opening |access-date= 2008-10-11 |publisher= [[Northwest Regional Development Agency]] |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080725055926/http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200801/cultural-secretary-at-bluecoat.aspx |archive-date= 25 July 2008 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> The opening exhibition, entitled ''Now Then'', showed work by five artists, including Yoko Ono.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news.asp?sc=&sId=170871&sType=review |title= Review: Now Then, The Bluecoat, Liverpool |access-date= 2008-10-12 |last= Sorensen |first= Emma |date= 2008-03-19 |work= Arts Hub |publisher= Arts Hub Holdings |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720024153/http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news.asp?sc=&sId=170871&sType=review |archive-date= 20 July 2008 |url-status= dead }}</ref> During the early summer a display entitled ''Mr Roscoe's Garden'', comprising part of Liverpool's Botanic Collection, was held.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2008/05/19/cap_culture_botanic_chelsea_feature.shtml |title= Mr Roscoe's Garden at Bluecoat |access-date=2008-10-12 |last= Coslett |first= Paul |date= 2008-06-20 |publisher= [[BBC]] Liverpool }}</ref>

The Bluecoat organises exhibitions, events, education programmes and concerts.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/component/option,com_events/Itemid,14/ |title= what's happening |access-date= 2008-10-12 |publisher= Bluecoat Chambers |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090116132655/http://thebluecoat.org.uk/component/option%2Ccom_events/Itemid%2C14 |archive-date= 16 January 2009 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> It also contains 22 artists studios. The Bluecoat Cafe serves a variety of homemade and locally sourced food and drink.<ref>{{citation |url= https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/plan-your-visit/our-cafe |title= Cafe |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher= Bluecoat Chambers}}</ref>

Since the reopening, the galleries have held major exhibitions by [[John Akomfrah]], [[Mark Leckey]], [[Sonia Boyce]], Jonathan Baldock, Bruce Asbestos<ref>{{cite web |title=Bruce Asbestos: OK! Cherub! |url=https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/library/event/bruce-asbestos-ok-cherub |website=The Bluecoat |access-date=2 July 2023}}</ref> [[Keith Piper (artist)|Keith Piper]], [[Siobhan Davies|Siobhan Davies Dance]] & [[Niamh O'Malley]], amongst others.

==Gallery of external features==
<gallery>
File:Bluecoat 201803.jpg|Exterior view
Image:Liverpool Bluecoat Hospital plaque.jpg|Blue plaque
Image:Liverpool Bluecoat door pediment 2.jpg|Sculpted entrance
Image:Liverpool Bluecoat plaque.jpg|Marble plaque with Latin inscription detailing war damage and restoration
Image:Liverpool Bluecoat door.jpg|Door
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Grade I listed buildings in Merseyside]]
*[[Architecture of Liverpool]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*W. S. MacCunn, ''Bluecoat Chambers. The origins and development of an art centre'', [[Liverpool University Press]] 1956.
*Peter Richmond, ''Marketing Modernisms. The Architecture and Influence of Charles Reilly'', Liverpool University Press 2001 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=qaVYKfxaTOwC&dq=bluecoat&pg=PA71 preview] at [[Google Books]]).

==External links==
{{commons category|Bluecoat Chambers, Liverpool}}
*[http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk The Bluecoat website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080511214007/http://www.nvmdigital.com/photos/photo480/BU480/BU16bluecoat480.html Picture by nvmdigital.com]
*[http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3108846 Detailed account of the restoration and new extension from BDonline]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2008/apr/02/the.bluecoat Video about the restored building]
*[http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/newsfeatures/2008/03/bluecoat_centresneak_preview.html Photographs of the new extension and some early exhibits]

{{Liverpool B&S}}
{{Schools in Liverpool}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|53.4042|-2.9839|display=title|region:GB_scale:2000}}

[[Category:School buildings completed in 1717]]
[[Category:School buildings completed in 2008]]
[[Category:Grade I listed art galleries]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Merseyside]]
[[Category:Cultural organisations based in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Defunct schools in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Bluecoat schools]]
[[Category:1717 establishments in England]]