LIVERPOOL MUSIC HERITAGE TRAIL – Clubland – Cream and The Kaz
Wolstenholme Square
“There is no part of the globe, however remote, whose natives may not be met on Liverpool landing stage, and there is not territory so distant whose products do not pass through the docks and warehouses of Liverpool.”
WT Pike, author, 1911
Owned by the Wolstenholme family, Wolstenholme Square was a prestigious residential location for merchants. By 1756 it was a select, vibrant and artistic neighbourhood and home to the city’s first designed ‘green’ space; its tree-lined square created as a fashionable ‘ladies walk’.
The port expanded relentlessly, creeping inward and upwards, away from the river. By the mid-19th century, this gentile neighbourhood was swept away. The area became a labyrinthine network of long, tight streets and buildings all serving the maritime trade; tall private brick-built warehouses to store goods, with ship’s chandlers and rope makers amongst the many supplying goods and services.
Bomb damage in World War Two and the ravages of decades of remorseless economic decline saw Wolstenholme Square reduced to a mish mash of functional industrial sheds and abandoned buildings. The original Square layout and two Georgian houses are all that remain of its first incarnation.
Fast forward to the late 1970s and Wolstenholme Square had descended into a neglected, semi-derelict area. At night it came alive, and that meant just one thing. Clubland.
Music
“The nightclubs were our freedom. Dance all night, get hammered, kebab on the way home.”
Sue Jones, clubber, 2023
Putting on your glad rags and dancing the night away at one of the city’s hotspots was a rights-of-passage for generations. Sophisticated disco clubs peppered the Square. A magnet for clubbers in search of glamour and escapism. And a late bar.
By the late ’80s, the era of the Studio 54 style super clubs was ending. Wolstenholme Square, already witness to so much, was about to dance to a very different beat.
Our music trail stops in clubland and spotlights two venues with a totally different agenda.
Cream 1992 – 2002
“What a time to be alive. Oakenfold in the courtyard. Magical.”
Phil Hayden, Cream regular, 2026
Cream at Nation was transformative for the city’s dance scene and its reputation
The building itself has had an incredible musical history. In 1969 it was Russell’s – the city’s premiere cabaret club – before changing to Snobs in the late ’70s, switching to Harvey’s, and then the Academy. But it had seen nothing yet.
Building on the success of their DJ nights at The State, Underground and the 051 clubs, DJs James Barton, Darren Hughes and Andy Carroll took over Nation for Saturday house music nights. It quickly went from an intimate underground scene to a global phenomenon.
The Kazimier 2008 – 2016
“It was a very special time that I feel privileged to have been part of. Like a powerful creative movement.”
Angie Waller, Kaz regular, 2016
On the cusp of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture in 2008 and attracted by the energy and spirit of the city, a group of creatives from Oxford roared up on bikes and discovered the perfect playground, Wolstenholme Square.
Taking over the faded glamour spot, The Conti – all mirrors and glass – The Kazimier reignited the Square. This was more than just a music venue. With a mystique all its own, on any given night the Kaz became a club, a theatre, a cabaret, a cinema.
