The first virtual reality experience on Bold Street

Before Bold Street had a Diorama it had the Rotunda. By the time the mid-19th century guides were being written, all they could say was that the building had formerly been used to display panorama paintings. By the time the Diorama opened in 1823, the Rotunda had probably already become a billiards hall, such was the short reign of panorama painting on Bold Street.

The engraving below (from the 1831 edition of Lancashire Illustrated) shows the bottom of Bold Street with the Lyceum on the lefthand corner and the entrance to the Rotunda just beyond (indicated by the arrow). The book makes it clear that the building had no architectural pretensions and that Bold Street was largely given over to shops by this time. Formerly, as with Clayton Square, it had been a smart residential area.

The location

There is no Bold Street on the 1766 map of Liverpool, the space between Renshaw and Wood Street being taken up by roperies running the length of what would eventually become Bold Street. Although the area is built on by 1794 there is no explicit mention of the Rotunda, the first indication being the label 24 for the Panorama on the 1807 map.

In the 1805 edition of the Stranger's Guide the Rotunda is described as newly opened and showing a view of Ramsgate. The adjacent Lyceum library and newsroom dates to 1800-1802 according to Sharples. The two were separated by Lyceum Place and what may have been a patch of grass or pavement on the Rotunda side. On the opposite side of the Rotunda was Rotunda Place.

The Rotunda likely comprised an entrance on Bold Street and then a covered passageway that took customers into the Rotunda itself, a domed circular building where a panorama painting draped along the walls was viewed from a raised central platform to give a compelling 360 degree immersive effect.

The Liverpool building clearly had a central pillar that would potentially reduce the sense of immersion. The architects of later buildings were able to design round this issue and hence remove the column.

Lighting was typically from windows situated in the ceiling or high on the walls and later buildings would have used frosted glass to minimise shadows. Dioramas of outdoor subjects often had ventilation to increase the sense of immersion as well as regulating temperature.

Barker's London Rotunda

The first permanent, purpose-built panorama building was opened in 1793 off London's Leicester Square and much of it persists today in the form of a church. Entrance to the London Panorama cost a princely 1s per painting, the building including a second small panorama as well as the large one. It seems likely from its dimensions that the Liverpool building only had the one display, the norm outside the capital. The price was the same.

There is a cross-section plan of the London Panorama as well as a rather epic view of its rival, the London Colosseum, captured in an Ackermann print available via Wikipedia or in more detailed form from a PDF poster. These give some insight into the sophistication of both the painting and the edifice around it.

There is an excellent description of the operation of the Leicester Square Panorama on this Regency blog. In particular this describes the deliberate manipulation of the viewer to achieve loss of bearings and adaptation to low light, thus increasing the impact of the panorama which was often augmented with props. Unfortunately, the possibility of "panorama sickness" also existed, not least for nautical scenes. Another good blog here.

Operation

The term panorama (see all) itself had only been coined in 1792 by the Scot Robert Barker who patented his process in 1787. Whether the Liverpool building operated under licence is unclear, the patent expiring in 1802 which might explain the construction of the Rotunda at that particular time. On the other hand, as with dioramas, the paintings were a major cost element and there would be movement of paintings between sites with a new one arriving typically twice a year. That in itself might encourage some kind of licenced or franchise operation as well as adoption of standard display sizes. Sea-ports such as Liverpool had a major advantage when it came to moving large paintings and there was, for example, exchange of canvasses between Liverpool and Dublin.

Popular painting themes included townscapes, including in London images of the metropolis itself that customers could readily interpret. Telescopes were provided on the platform so that detail could be fully appreciated. Exotic travel destinations, state occasions, military and maritime themes were also in demand.

Bear in mind that at this time there was no public art gallery; the nearest equivalent would be the subscription-based Liverpool Royal Institution established subsequently in 1814 in Colquitt Street.

The Liverpool Rotunda showed panoramas for about 20 years. By comparison the London building continued to display such paintings for almost 70 years. One difference may have simply been the "wow" factor, the Liverpool building being significantly smaller at around 15 metres diameter (the Lyceum rotunda is only marginally smaller) vs 25 metres for the London equivalent (for comparison, the Picton Reading Room in the City Library is about 35 m). You can just make out the Rotunda in the general panoramic view of Liverpool dated 1865 by M Jackson and T Sulman. Excepting the conical roof, its height again seems similar to the adjacent Lyceum.

It could also reflect the commonplace observation that Liverpool at the time was a place to make rather than spend money. It's possible, however, that it also was affected by competition from other venues and from other entertainments that changed content more frequently. Additionally, the Rotunda and Diorama both had a requirement for good quality daylight that did not apply to alternatives such as taverns, coffee-houses, theatres and concert halls.

The OpenSim build

The maps of the era show something of the ground floor plan but it is in the vertical elevation that the operation of the panorama is manifest and the internal organisation is guesswork at present. Also, I may have been unduly influenced by the gymnasium images as I have left the portico visible as per the latter even though it is absent from the 1831 image. Perhaps the portico was added later, possibly during conversion to the gymnasium when a neo-classical appearance would have echoed Olympian ideals, or the columns were integrated with the entrance.

I have assumed that there is a central raised platform but its diameter would have to have been quite narrow to allow a satisfactory distance for viewing (30 feet in principle but probably less here).

Afterlife

As mentioned previously, by the 1830s the Rotunda was already given over to a subscription club that provided a newsroom, card tables and, most notably, billiards tables. According to Gore's Directory, the Keeper was John Salt who lived nearby in Wolstenholme Square. Famed billiards master and author John Roberts Senior first played at the "Old Rotunda" in Bold Street at the age of 9.

The Rotunda is, however, primarily remembered for the Gymnasium established in 1862 by John Hulley, pioneer Olympian, although the business partnership underpinning it fell apart two years later with Hulley eventually opening a new gym on Myrtle Street. What images we have date from this period. The gymnasium was almost certainly based in the old Rotunda building, but the entrance may well have been extended.

The last days of the Bold Street Rotunda

The collapse of Hulley's partnership with Samuel Wylde Ackerley is something of a mystery. After significant investment in equipping the gymnasium, Ackerley terminated their agreement after only18 months (as he was permitted to do by the original terms). The Rotunda was soon demolished to make way for shops in 1864 (Picton). It was on the edge of Liverpool Central railway station (built 1874) and part of the space was eventually taken by a railway parcels office (now a cafe).

Beyond Bold Street

Subsequently panoramas and dioramas continued to be displayed in a number of venues across Liverpool. A building called the Dominion of Fancy at the corner of Church Street was used for social gatherings and also displayed panoramas, later becoming the Pantheon Theatre and later still the (Royal) Liver Theatre. A wooden building termed The New Rotunda opened in Great Charlotte Street. A large hall on Cook Street, part of a tavern, was temporarily used under the name Sans Pareil for performances and display of dioramas. In some venues touring showmen gave witty and erudite talks in front of a moving convex discontinuous panorama that depicted a number of locations and could be advanced to tell the next stage of the story (often a journey), sometimes with musical accompaniment. Commutation Row was another panorama venue in the 1840s.

Footnote: other Liverpool panoramas
The Seige of Flushing was displayed in 1815 at Cook Street.

Useful background references
Gobal Glimpses for Local Realities
Moving Panoramas c. 1800 to 1840
(Another view of the Leicester Square Rotunda)

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