Derby Square

Derby Square features the Victoria Monument, a tall stone column topped by a gilded statue of Queen Victoria. It marks the site of the original Liverpool Castle, a thirteenth century fortress that stood guard over the mouth of the River Mersey for hundreds of years. By the time workers leveled the castle ruins in the seventeen hundreds, the structure had become a crumbling jail. Today, the statue watches over a quiet plaza where city merchants once traded goods beneath the castle walls.