Editing Giles Gilbert Scott (section)

===Liverpool Cathedral===
{{main article|Liverpool Cathedral}}
In 1901, while Scott was still a pupil in Moore's practice, the [[diocese of Liverpool]] announced a competition to select the architect of a new cathedral. Two well-known architects were appointed as assessors for an open competition for architects wishing to be considered.<ref name="c3">Cotton, p 3</ref> [[George Frederick Bodley|G.&nbsp;F.&nbsp;Bodley]] was a leading exponent of the [[Gothic revival]] style, and a former pupil and relative by marriage of Scott's grandfather.<ref name="bodley">Hall, Michael. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31944 "Bodley, George Frederick (1827–1907)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 2 October 2011 {{subscription required}}</ref> [[Richard Norman Shaw|R.&nbsp;Norman Shaw]] was an eclectic architect, having begun in the Gothic style, and later favouring what his biographer Andrew Saint calls "full-blooded classical or imperial architecture".<ref name="shaw">Saint, Andrew. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36050 "Shaw, Richard Norman (1831–1912)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; accessed 2 October 2011 {{subscription required}}</ref> Architects were invited by public advertisement to submit portfolios of their work for consideration by Bodley and Shaw. From these, the two assessors selected a first shortlist of architects to be invited to prepare drawings for the new building.

For architects, the competition was an important event; not only was it for one of the largest building projects of its time, but it was only the third opportunity to build an Anglican cathedral in England since the [[English Reformation|Reformation]] in the 16th century ([[St Paul's Cathedral]] being the first, rebuilt from scratch after the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666, and [[Truro Cathedral]] being the second, begun in the 19th century).<ref name="t1902">"Liverpool Cathedral", ''The Times'', 25 September 1902, p. 8</ref> The competition attracted 103 entries,<ref name="t1902"/> from architects including Temple Moore, [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120402212739/http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch_Mackintosh/LargeImage.fwx?catno=41153&filename=crm%2F41153.jpg "Design for Liverpool Anglican Cathedral competition: south elevation 1903"] Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, accessed 21 June 2012</ref> and [[Charles Herbert Reilly|Charles Reilly]].<ref>Powers, p. 2</ref> With Moore's approval, Scott submitted his own entry, on which he worked in his spare time.<ref name="dnb"/>

In 1903, the assessors recommended that Scott should be appointed. There was widespread comment at the nomination of a 22-year-old with no existing buildings to his credit. Scott admitted that so far his only design to be constructed had been a pipe-rack.{{#tag:ref|The pipe-rack had been constructed to Scott's design by his sister.<ref>Scott, p. 4</ref>|group= n}} The choice of winner was even more contentious when it emerged that Scott was a Roman Catholic,{{#tag:ref|At this time it was customary for architects to undertake ecclesiastical work only for the denomination to which they belonged. When Bodley's partner [[Thomas Garner]] became a Roman Catholic in 1897, the partnership was dissolved and Garner's church work was thereafter exclusively for the Roman Catholic church while Bodley worked solely on Anglican churches.<ref name="thomas"/>|group= n}} but the assessors' recommendation was accepted by the diocesan authorities.<ref name="dnb"/>

Because of Scott's age and inexperience, the cathedral committee appointed Bodley as joint architect to work in tandem with him.<ref>Kennerley, p. 24</ref> A historian of Liverpool Cathedral observes that it was generous of Bodley to enter into a working relationship with a young and untried student.<ref>Cotton, p. 24</ref> Bodley had been a close friend of Scott's father, but his collaboration with the young Scott was fractious, especially after Bodley accepted commissions to design two cathedrals in the US,{{#tag:ref|These were for [[Washington National Cathedral|Washington, DC]], and San Francisco. The latter was not built.<ref name="bodley"/>|group= n}} necessitating frequent absences from Liverpool.<ref name="dnb"/> Scott complained that this "has made the working partnership agreement more of a farce than ever, and to tell the truth my patience with the existing state of affairs is about exhausted".<ref>Kennerley, p. 38</ref> Scott was on the point of resigning when Bodley died suddenly in 1907, leaving him in charge.<ref>Cotton, p. 22</ref> The cathedral committee appointed Scott sole architect, and though it reserved the right to appoint another co-architect, it never seriously considered doing so.<ref name="thomas"/>

[[File:Anglican Cathedral Liverpool 2 (6730011723).jpg|thumb|left|[[Liverpool Cathedral]] in 2012]]
In 1910 Scott realised that he was not happy with the main design, which looked like a traditional Gothic cathedral in the style of the previous century. He persuaded the cathedral committee to let him start all over again (a difficult decision, as some of the stonework had already been erected) and redesigned it as a simpler and more symmetrical building with a single massive central tower instead of the original proposal for twin towers.<ref>Kennerley, p. 55</ref> Scott's new plans provided more interior space.<ref>Cotton pp. 28, 30 and 32</ref> At the same time Scott modified the decorative style, losing much of the Gothic detailing and introducing a more modern, monumental style.<ref>Cotton, pp. 29–30</ref>

The [[Lady Chapel of Liverpool Cathedral|Lady Chapel]],<ref name="thomas"/> the first part of the building to be completed, was consecrated in 1910 by [[Francis Chavasse|Bishop Chavasse]] in the presence of two archbishops and 24 other bishops.<ref>Forwood, William. "Liverpool Cathedral – Consecration of the Lady Chapel", ''The Times'', 30 June 1910, p. 9</ref> Work was severely limited during the First World War, with a shortage of manpower, materials and money.<ref name="c6">Cotton, p. 6</ref> By 1920, the workforce had been brought back up to strength and the stone quarries at [[Woolton]], source of the red sandstone for most of the building, reopened.<ref name="c6"/> The first section of the main body of the cathedral was complete by 1924, and on 19 July 1924, the 20th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone, the cathedral was consecrated in the presence of [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]], and bishops and archbishops from around the globe.<ref name="c6"/>

Construction continued throughout the 1930s, but slowed drastically throughout the Second World War, as it had done during the First. Scott continued to work on the project until his death, refining the design as he went. He designed every aspect of the building down to the fine details. The cathedral was finished in 1978, nearly two decades after Scott's death.<ref>Riley, Joe. "Finished – but for the way in to the nave", ''The Guardian'', 25 October 1978, p. 8</ref>