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Liverpool
Merseyside North West England Canada Boulevard (L3)
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Liver Birds'Bertie' and 'Bella' |
Carl Bernard Bartels
1911 |
On top of the two towers of the the Royal Liver Building are sculptures of fabled Liver Birds, which watch over the city and the sea. Their names are Bertie and Bella. The male, Bertie looks over the city and the female, Bella looks to the sea. Legend has it that if the two birds were to fly away, the city would cease to exist.
The bird is normally represented as a cormorant, and appears as such on the city's arms, in which it bears a branch of laver seaweed in its beak as a further pun on the name 'Liverpool'.
The Liver Birds are 5.5 m (18 ft) high and with their added height the Royal Liver Building has an overall height of 103.7 m (340 ft).
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