The ornate green Galkoff tiles were added to the building in 1933.
Working to preserve the tiled frontage of P. Galkoff Kosher butcher shop as part of the Galkoff’s and Secret Life of Pembroke Place project has brought decoratively tiled buildings across the city to my attention!
Tiles were introduced to England in the Roman period, as a roofing material. There is evidence for local production of tiles around 200AD in Tarbock, Knowsley. By the medieval period tiles were used inside buildings as flooring, and were glazed against wear. Tiles perhaps reached their apex in the Victorian period when highly decorative, colourful and mounded tiles were used as flooring and on internal and external walls to create hardwaring, easy to clean surfaces.
Tiled bar and floor at the Philharmonic Dining Rooms pub
Around Liverpool there are many excellent examples of beautiful tiles. Some serve practical purposes, increasing hygiene at hospitals, including the Hahnemann Homeopathic Hospital on Hope Street. Others make buildings easy to keep looking smart, such as pubs around the city. And others are primarily decorative, such as the Carter’s of Poole mural in the Lewis’s building.
This Storymap tile trail introduces some of the tiles you might visit around Liverpool.