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Liverpool 800 years young

Liverpool has come a long way since then, evolving from a tiny fishing port - the Dee was the predominant river of the time - to second city of the Empire.

King John's interest in Liverpool was as a departure point for Ireland. He built Liverpool Castle - on what is now Castle Street - although it wasn't completed until 1237, twenty-one years after his death. Overlooking the Mersey, the castle stood for more than 400 years; it was partly destroyed in the Civil War, before the area was levelled and St George's Church built and re-built on the site. The Victoria Monument was erected there in 1902, and the area sustained blanket bombing during the Blitz in 1941. Somehow, the Victoria Monument survived, albeit surrounded by rubble - today the area is Derby Square, home to Liverpool's Queen Elizabeth Law Courts.