A major exhibition about the Titanic will open this week in the Liverpool building that was once home to the company that owned the iconic boat.
Organisers hope that the event, at the White Star Line hotel, will broaden knowledge of the connections between the history of the ship and the city.
@merseynewslive Titanic exhibition to come to White Star Line Hotel for the first time ever, connecting Liverpool to the ill-fated ship’s history. For more, click the link in the bio! *all videos from White Star Heritage and Lee Hill* #liverpool #titanic #whitestarlinehotel
The new owners of the White Star Line hotel took it over only seven months ago. Speaking to Mersey News Live, they said they knew immediately that they needed to highlight the building’s dramatic past.
Chris Carline, one of the owners and directors of the hotel, said: “The company who own and operate the exhibit is called White Star Heritage, and it has been built up by a guy who is a real sort of Titanic enthusiast. He turned his interest in this hobby into business and ended up occurring this set of items of memorabilia along with obviously the information that he has.”
He added: “Obviously, our perspective initially was you definitely need to bring it here because of course this is White Star’s building. This was built by Thomas Ismay to be White Star’s head office. So, you know, the White Star Heritage exhibit taking place in the White Star building in Liverpool is almost like the mother-ship calling them home.
“It’s almost like Titanic’s eventually made it home to Liverpool in the end via this exhibit.”
The owner of the exhibition, Tom Rudderham, tours with the artefacts across the country with plans this year to go to London and the NEC in Birmingham.
However, the exhibition has never been to Liverpool until now. There is often a belief that Liverpool didn’t have much to do with the ship’s history but second owner of the White Star hotel, Brian Gamble, hopes their efforts will change people minds.
He said: “I know the ship never came to Liverpool, but it was registered there and that’s why it carries our name.
“One of the most heroic stories is probably the story of the guys from the band who carried on playing while people were trying to get off. All of those people who were in that band were all part of Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. So, the connections go way beyond us just having our name on the back of it. There were members of the crew and a couple of passengers who were from Liverpool.”
The building itself is Grade Two listed and has gone through some hardships. When he commissioned its construction in 1896, Thomas Ismay asked the architect and designer of the Scotland Yard building in London to build a similar building in Liverpool on the plot of land which he had bought.
Mr Carline said: “It was actually the tallest building in Liverpool. It precedes the Liver Building the Cunard and the Port of Liverpool building, which are the Three Graces. It actually predates those buildings as well.
“Thomas picked the site for an obvious reason, which was that at the time he had a fairly unencumbered view of the Mersey so that he could see White Star ships on the river. A little sort of quirky fact connected to that is that White Star’s biggest shipping rival in the day was obviously the Cunard Line. That’s actually why, well one of the reasons, why the Cunard built their building where it is. They did it on purpose to block his view to the Mersey.”
Since opening in 2014, the hotel has welcomed queues of people interested in its history and architecture.
Mr Gamble said: “I ran the building back in 2015 to 2017 and I left and watched from afar as the building hasn’t developed since I was there.
“I know from first hand from my time there, the prominence of the building, for people of Liverpool particularly, and the amount of people who are international visitors who come to the city, who always make way to the White Star Line because of its prominence with Titanic and its connections.”
Since its illustrious beginnings, however, the building has been through periods of decline and disrepair. In the early months of 2025, the grand hall, which was once used for first-class customers to buy tickets and has since become an event and wedding space, had to be shut for four months for renovations.
Since taking the keys in May, the current owners have tried to restore the hotel whilst still highlighting the history of it. The exhibition is a key part of this strategy.
Mr Gamble said: “I want people to come and enjoy the exhibition. Have a good walk around, pick up a bit of knowledge maybe that they didn’t know before, see a few artifacts that they weren’t aware of and enjoy the building.”
The exhibit will see artifacts rescued from the Atlantic, like part of the decking, a deck chair and even a piece of the grand staircase showcased from the 8th of January to the 10th of March.
