Local History

If Stones Could Speak

Buildings come and go but a surprising number survive after either being physically moved or as remnants preserved or incorporated into other structures. This can happen for many reasons. Sometimes wealthy owners love the building but not the location. This happened with half-timbered Bidston Court, moved from the outskirts of Birkenhead to a leafier part of Wirral and renamed Hillbark.

Ancient Dutton Hall near Runcorn was dismantled and grafted on to another old house in Sussex. Sandown Hall in Wavertree and Underlea in Aigburth were also shifted elsewhere with a view to being reassembled at some future date.

Painted ceilings and other features from vanished Deysbrook House in West Derby are stored in crates, unopened for more than 70 years. Stones of a ruined archway at the Old Hutt in Halewood were carefully numbered before it was dismantled in 1961. American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863 – 1951) shipped crates of historic building parts to the States to enhance his vast art collections.

Architectural salvage, which has been going on for hundreds if not thousands of years, can be a lucrative business. However, following the growth of the conservation movement in late Victorian times, most of our important historic buildings are now strictly protected. Despite this, some are still lost through neglect or bad planning decisions, not to mention fires. Liverpool’s original School for the Blind had an elegant colonnaded church based on a Greek temple. It was built first in Hotham Street, off Lord Nelson Street, where it was a landmark for more than 30 years. When Lime Street Station expanded in 1850 due to the railway boom, the Blind School relocated to Hardman Street. The church was taken down and moved stone by stone to its new location. However, it then had to be adapted to the new, narrower site.

The necessary absence of some original features made the church look rather forlorn. It was demolished about 1930 when the school was rebuilt.

Columns and huge blocks of stone from this long-gone church are an intriguing sight off School Lane in Woolton Wood (pictured). Records reveal that it was originally planned to incorporate the columns into a shelter or gazebo for park users. However, this never happened and the columns and stones lie scattered with no visible clue to their historic origins.

Learn more about the history of Liverpool at the Museum of Liverpool, pier Head, admission free.

RICHARD & SHANNON JENKINS

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