Wolstenholme Square

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Wolstenholme Square

Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool, L1
  • MondayOpen 24 hours
  • TuesdayOpen 24 hours
  • WednesdayOpen 24 hours
  • ThursdayOpen 24 hours
  • FridayOpen 24 hours
  • SaturdayOpen 24 hours
  • SundayOpen 24 hours

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Penelope scuplture
Photo: Vicky Andrews
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Wolstenholme Square once was a highly fashionable address, but, typical of much 19th century commercial development, saw its elegance swept away by a tide of industrial warehousing.

Times are changing again, though, as regeneration is closing in on all four sides, while Cuban sculptor Jorge Pardo’s monumental Penelope (2004) sculpture takes precedence. With its brightly coloured tentacles, Penelope is one of the largest sculptures in the city. Commissioned in 2006 by Liverpool Biennial, the sculpture is apparently inspired by the story of Ulysses’ wife in The Odyssey.

Penelope waited faithfully for her husband to return from the Trojan war, and rejected numerous suitors by saying she had first to finish weaving a rope before she could consider remarriage. She unravelled her day’s work each night in order to maintain her cover story. The stalks on the sculpture are a reference to both Penelope’s weaving and to the local history of rope-making in this part of Liverpool city centre.

What's on near Wolstenholme Square

Bluecoat
Until
ActivityCity Centre
Workshops at Bluecoat

Learn through doing with a packed programme of hands-one workshops at Bluecoat, including crafts, family friendly arts and printing socials.

From £70.00
Uncertain Data at FACT, Liverpool
Until
ActivityCity Centre
Workshops at FACT

Check out the ways you can get hands on creatively with workshops at FACT in Liverpool, as well as taking their daily guided tour.

Free entry

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