[2] It was the first purpose-built building for what was to become the University of Liverpool, with accommodation for administration, teaching, common rooms and a library.

The building was the inspiration for the term "red brick university" which was coined by Professor Edgar Allison Peers.

[4] In 1882, University College, Liverpool, opened in a disused lunatic asylum and by 1887 it was decided that a purpose-built headquarters should be erected.

Much of this was raised by a public appeal and the private donors included Henry Tate, who gave £20,000 towards the building and a further £5,500 for books in the library, and William Hartley, who paid £4,300 for the clock and bells in the tower.

In 2008, to coincide with Liverpool being European Capital of Culture, the building was converted into the Victoria Gallery and Museum.

[7] The Victoria Gallery & Museum is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday each week and admission is free.

Artists represented include Joseph Wright of Derby, J. M. W. Turner, Jacob Epstein, Lucian Freud, Elisabeth Frink and John James Audubon.

[11] The top floor comprises the Tate Hall Museum which contains exhibits on a variety of subjects, including zoology, medicine, dentistry, archaeology, engineering and oceanography.