St. John's Market, Liverpool

St. John's Market was designed by John Foster Jnr. and opened in 1822. It was a pioneering building, covering almost two acres and entirely lit by gas. It was the first large scale covered market in the country, and the forerunner of numerous Victorian market halls. The timber construction of the roof, carried by a forest of cast iron columns and ingeniously designed to permit ventilation, was admired by the great German architect Schinkel (1781 - 1841) when he visited Liverpool in 1826, though he regretted the rather grim design of the brick exterior. The building was demolished in 1964 to make way for the present St. John's Precinct.