Pembroke Place Galkoff's is off to museum

The impressive tiled frontage of the long-closed Galkoff’s butchers shop, at the top of London Road, is to move indoors for good.

A £291,300 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund will be used to dismantle and conserve the colourful façade of Galkoff’s. It will then be rebuilt inside the Museum of Liverpool as part of an exhibition which will reveal the "Secret Life of Pembroke Place". 

Originally a house, P. Galkoff kosher butcher shop opened around 1908, and the highly  decorative tiles were added in 1933. It is located just a few doors from the last remaining area of Liverpool's court housing (back-to-back dwellings standing around courtyards). 

This type of house was a prevalent type of working class home in mid 19th century Liverpool. 

The HLF grant, along with work by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Museum of Liverpool will use information obtained from geophysical surveys in and around the vicinity, as well as an archaeological dig to uncover more remnants of the court housing and understand more about people’s lives there.

Research will be carried out into the lives, business and homes of Pembroke Place and surrounding area; building up a better picture of what made this such a vibrant community from the 18th century onwards. 

From roller skating Victorians to grizzly murders and the site of a former zoo, preliminary findings indicate an area is rich in stories.

Janet Dugdale, director of the Museum of Liverpool said: “We are thrilled to receive this endorsement by Heritage Lottery Fund. For the Museum of Liverpool to acquire the tiled façade of P. Galkoff butcher shop, a much-loved Liverpool landmark, and preserve it for the long term, is a wonderful, lasting legacy.

“We look forward this project enabling us to explore the history of Liverpool’s Jewish community, as well as the wider story of Pembroke Place, in more detail.”

Nathan Lee, Head of HLF North West said: “We are delighted to be able to award National Lottery funding to conserve Galkoff’s Jewish butcher shop in Liverpool and we look forward to finding out more about the stories of the people who lived in and around Pembroke Place as they are brought to life as part of this fascinating project.”

Professor Janet Hemingway, CBE, and LSTM’s Director, said: “We are delighted to have HLF backing for this fascinating historical project. LSTM itself is part of Liverpool’s diverse heritage, born as we were from the city’s international success as a port. This project will allow us to  help preserve that heritage and contribute to Liverpool’s continued success.”