The Merseyside Centre for the Deaf in Liverpool is Grade II-listed and was built in 1887.
Grade II-listed, 1887, E.H. Banner
The idea of an accessible place of worship for Liverpool’s Deaf and Dumb community can be traced back to 1864, when the Christian missionary, George Healey, established the Merseyside Adult Deaf and Dumb Benevolent Society. Working from the premise that scripture should be accessible to everyone, the society considered a range of flexible arrangements in its early years, including home groups and occasional services in cemetery chapels, and is notable for its innovations in religious practice, but in 1877, a decision was made to establish a building fund for a permanent location. The fund, which attracted donations from high-profile figures including Queen Victoria, enabled the society to acquire a 2000-year lease from local landowner, Lord Sefton, and build what later became the Merseyside Centre for Deaf People on a prominent site between Prince’s Road and Parkway. The new building served as a venue for lectures, meetings, and social gatherings, as well as a school for Deaf children, and incorporated a chapel where accessible services were held several times a week.
The Centre remained in its original use until 1986, when the building was sold and its owners relocated to a more central site. The building was subsequently used as a community centre by the local Igbo community, who were themselves displaced in 2007 on account of rising costs and an ageing membership. Today, the grand redbrick Gothic building is in a serious state of disrepair, and whilst the community are full of ideas for its restoration and adaptive reuse, its current deteriorating condition means urgent works are desperately needed first to secure it from further damage.
Status Update / March 2026
As of 2026, the building remains in poor condition and continues to deteriorate. It has been nominated for our Top Ten several times since 2016, which suggests there is still a strong local sentiment to see the building restored and put back into use.