They've been transformed through the years for entirely new purposes
Only certain generations will remember when public toilets were common on Britain's streets. Now more of a rarity, public toilets began appearing on streets in Liverpool and across the UK in the Victorian era as a response to years of unsanitary 'befouling' of public spaces.
Essential when many homes didn't have enough facilities, the Victorian toilets were often built underground in urban areas where there was limited space above ground. However, as toilets became more commonplace in people's homes, attitudes towards them change.
In later years, with no obligation to provide toilets for the public, local authorities closed many of them down and sold off the buildings and land. These days, in the places where a public convenience used to be you're much more likely to find the building repurposed into a café, bar, or even somebody's home, the ECHO previously reported.
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The Liverpool ECHO has found some notable examples of public toilets that used to reside on our city streets. Here, we take another look at just 10 of them and what they became.
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Of course this list is not intended to be comprehensive. See how many you remember in our list below.
A concrete bunker like public toilet building stood disused on Aigburth Road for many years near the bottom of Lark Lane. That all changed, however, when the old building was converted into business premises and Churrasco steak house opened its doors in 2015.
A world away from the graffiti strewn building, Churrasco was unrecognisable from the old public convenience with its modern, glass fronted saloon design. Since opening, Churrasco has gone on to be a highly rated restaurant in the city and previously made the list of top 50 most romantic restaurants in the UK.
It's hard to believe that at one time a stairwell leading to a subterranean public toilet once resided smack bang in the middle of Victoria Street in Liverpool city centre. Underground toilets were commonly built in Victorian times and examples of stairs leading to lavatories on islands and roundabouts next to busy roads were more common than you might imagine.
Although this design does seem fraught with potential hazards, particularly if you were caught short during rush hour. Only certain generations will remember this being there.
Another Liverpool city centre underground public convenience that no longer exists are the impressive loos featuring a domed ceiling that protruded out of the ground on Derby Square. Nowadays Derby Square is more recognisable for the Victoria monument and Liverpool courts.
By all accounts these lavatories were impressive and immaculately kept with period tiled walls and mosaic floor. Like many of the underground toilets built during the Victorian era, they didn't have disabled access and fell out of favour with local authorities.
Not many public toilets get mentioned in song but these former public conveniences did and by no other than The Beatles. Now known as the former Sergeant Peppers restaurant, the building was a bus office and public toilet in its former life.
It was immortalised in the Fab Four’s classic Penny Lane with the lyric: “Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout." Since the restaurant closed over 20 years ago, the building has remained empty and has been subject to speculation as to its future.
Despite standing disused for years, up until 2011 this public toilet building was a familiar sight on Park Road. However, a £6m regeneration at the heart of the Toxteth Street saw a large area, including where the public toilet stood, redeveloped.
A massive new Tesco supermarket was later opened on the site. You can how different it looks in these two photographs.
Perhaps one of the more famous Liverpool city centre businesses known for having a previous life as a public toilet is the Eatwell cafe on the corner of Catharine Street and Caledonia Street. Chris Lamb first opened Eatwell with his late brother Dennis in 1990.
Speaking to the ECHO in 2019, Chris said: "When we first opened up, we were surrounded by hospitals. It was previously a public toilets and the council put it up for auction. We saw the potential in the building and it looked quite iconic. It's well built and the appeal was the corner site."
The area around the Pier Head has undergone massive redevelopment over the past few decades. After years of decline, work around the area of the Three Graces has been undertaken to present the most famous jewels in the city's architectural crown to their greatest advantage.
A toilet block that used to reside close to the Liver Building has long since been demolished although from the photograph above. But for many of us it's hard to picture where exactly this was situated.
The Victorian built underground toilets on Spellow Lane in Walton existed up until World War Two. During the May Blitz of 1941, the toilets took a direct hit from a German bomb.
It's thought that some people had entered the subterranean toilet upon hearing an air raid siren feeling it was safer underground. The blast from the bomb is said to have caused damage to the spire of St Lawrence Church further along Barlow Lane. Following the destruction caused by the bomb, the toilets were filled in.
One business appears to have embraced its former life as a public convenience. Aptly named Cubicle, today this Mill Lane site in West Derby id home to a bar.
Close to the Sefton Arms pub, this former public toilet building had previously opened as a florist called Romantic Notions. Many will remember it however as it looked in years gone by.
Back in 2008, this inconspicuous toilet block on Lodge Lane in Toxteth made the pages of the Liverpool ECHO after it sparked a bidding war at a property auction. Bidding on the run down loos started slowly at around the £30k mark but finally sold for an impressive £90k.
The building was transformed into units that could be used as a cafe, takeaway or shop. These days, the old Lodge Lane toilets are now home to a catering business.
