The Oratory stands to the north of Liverpool Cathedral in Merseyside, England. It was originally the mortuary chapel to St James Cemetery, and houses a collection of 19th-century sculpture and important funeral monuments as part of the Walker Art Gallery.
The Oratory was built in 1829, and used for funeral services before burials in the adjacent cemetery. It was designed by John Foster. When the cemetery closed, the building fell into disuse. In 1986 it came under the care of National Museums Liverpool, and is used to contain a collection of sculpture and statues.The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple. At each end is a portico with six columns. There are no windows and the building is lit from above. Inside, a coffered ceiling is supported by Ionic columns. Pollard and Pevsner consider this to be Foster’s best surviving building. On 28 June 1952 it was designated as a Grade I listed building.In the National Heritage List for England it is described as “one of the purest monuments of the Greek Revival in England”. Around the Oratory are cast iron railings and gate piers that have been listed at Grade II.