Scouse Perseverance

Ambrose Reynolds, the curator of Liverpool’s Bombed Out Church, is pensive, his eyes twinkling over a Scouse brew. “This space is an oasis. Here, stillness can be found amongst the chaos,” he says.

The Bombed Out Church stands tall if a little unsteadily over Liverpool’s city centre. It adopted its title after the Blitz in 1941, and its survival has hung by a thread ever since. Roofless, consumed by nature and possessing a “micro-climate” of its own, the church is symbolic of the city’s proud history.

Though protected by covenant, the crumbling building was on the verge of being abandoned when Reynolds came along in 2003; since then things seem to have, sometimes physically, “fallen into place”.

An attempt by Signature Living, a hotel operator, to buy the space last year was met with public outrage. The council rejected its plans and a £19,000 Crowdfunder gave the church a new lease of life. Today, it is conserved by English Heritage.

Home to film screenings, Shakespeare plays, craft fairs, live music events, and public forums attended by the local community despite “Siberian weather”, the church’s popularity is soaring, Reynolds smiles. Last Sunday he welcomed Bonobo and Gilles Peterson to its grounds, a show that sold out in ten minutes. Gilles’ show was infallible, and a Brazilian bucket hat was rather aptly doing the rounds as he played jazz, electro, and new releases from Romare. Bonobo put on an eye-wateringly beautiful set which matched the surroundings perfectly.

Scouse perseverance is to thank for the revitalisation of this Liverpool landmark. That and a stubborn stand against commercial gentrification, or “poncifying” as Reynolds calls it. What next for the Bombed Out Church? Well, the sky is quite literally the limit.