Liverpool Philharmonic pub awarded Grade I listing

An opulent 19th-century pub in Liverpool has become the first purpose-built Victorian inn to be granted a Grade I listing.

The Philharmonic Dining Rooms has been upgraded to Grade I by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.

Designed by Liverpudlian architect Walter W Thomas, the pub joins the top 2.5% of protected historic buildings in England, which includes Buckingham Palace. The exterior features elaborate carvings, art nouveau elements and stone sculptures of musicians and musical instruments in low relief.

A total of 11 pubs have received new listings as part of a project to protect rare historic interiors. They include:

• The Vines, Liverpool – Grade II*
• Peter Kavanagh's, Liverpool – Grade II
• Blue Ship, Billingshurt, West Sussex – Grade II
• Hand and Shears, Smithfield, London – Grade II
• Coach and Horses, Soho, London – Grade II
• Haunch of Venison, Sailsbury, Wiltshire – Grade II*
• Square and Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset – Grade II
• Rose and Crown, Huish Episcopi, Somerset – Grade II
• Tucker's Grave Inn, Radstock, Somerset – Grade II
• The Red Lion, Rugeley, Staffordshire – Grade II

Photo credit: Alan Bull