Early 20th Century - Demolition, Rebuilding, and New Uses

Entering the 20th century, Liverpool undertook efforts to clear slums and modernizse the city. St. Mary Magdalene’s Church on Kempston Street continued serving parishioners until 1929, when it was officially closed.  

The church building, having stood for over 100 years was subsequently demolished in the following years (making way for new construction on that plot).  

Where worshippers once gathered, warehouse and light-industrial buildings began to rise around the turn of the 20th century. In fact, the large building now at 68–74 Kempston Street, which later became part of The Tapestry complex, was constructed during this period, replacing the old church and occupying its footprint." 

The church’s former vicarage, a smaller structure adjacent to the site, survived a bit longer; it remained standing into the late 20th century as a forlorn remnant amid newer warehouses, until it was finally knocked down in the early 1980s to create what is now an internal courtyard of The Tapestry. 

The image below shows the site where the former Vicarage was sited, which was cleared to make way for the Courtyard at Taylors Screenprint.  

Figure 1. The site where the former Vicarage was sited as it was cleared to make way for the Courtyard at Taylors Screenprint

With the slum courts gradually cleared (many residents rehoused in new council flats or suburbs), Kempston and Constance Streets shifted from residential to commercial use.

By the 1910s–1930s, the area was part of Liverpool’s thriving wholesale and light manufacturing zone near London Road. For example, hat-making and tailoring businesses took root nearby; the hat factory Try & Lilly, established in the 19th century, kept operating on Kempston Street into the new century.  

Figure 2. Former residential blocks to warehouses

As early as the 1920s, one could find warehouses for textiles, clothes, and other goods occupying former residential blocks. On Gildart Street, which had always been slightly wider, old houses made way for small factories.

One notable enterprise was started by a local tailor known as “Mr. Max,” who built a ladies’ fashion workshop/factory on Gildart Street in the early 20th century. This multi-story brick factory later became an asset for his family following his death; the rental income from the building served as his widow’s pension.

Such stories were common in this district: family-owned warehouses or factories handed down through generations.

Although the infamous brothels were gone by World War I, the legacy of poverty persisted. During the interwar years, many buildings on Constance Street and the surrounding Islington streets were in complete disrepair. Liverpool’s first wave of slum clearance (in the 1920s–30s) likely eliminated some of the worst court housing around Constance Street.  

Figure 3. Streets shifted to industrial/warehouse

The primary use of these streets became industrial/warehouse. Photographs from the mid-20th century show that Constance Street, for instance, no longer had rows of tiny houses but instead had brick warehouses and depots.

The local economy in this era was defined by wholesaling: the proximity to the city centre and the new St. Martin’s public market made it ideal for storage and distribution businesses.