Woolton Hall | Liverpool's Heritage

Woolton Hall is a former country house located in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool, England.

Built in 1704 and extensively renovated in 1772 by the influential architect Robert Adam, the building is praised as the finest example of Robert Adam's work in Northern England. Throughout its 300-year history the building has been the residence of a number of notable figures, including the Earl of Sefton and Liverpool shipowner Frederick Richards Leyland. During the later part of the 20th century the building went through a number of uses eventually becoming a school in the 1950s and later being abandoned with plans for its demolition. A campaign against its destruction was successful and the hall is now a Grade I listed building.

However, this Grade ONE listed building is now rotting away in Liverpool. Can this Grade 1 listed building be saved from demolition?

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As seen on the above left, the hall is now in a shocking state from what would be considered as 'managed decline'. It is in a very poor condition and Save Britain's Heritage, Historic England and Liverpool City Council are aware of the condition of the building.

I have set up a website which can be found at www.wooltonhall.co.uk It was incredible to find that this building is one year younger than the 1st part of Buckingham Palace and was noted as the finest example of Robert Adam’s work in the North of England. I was even more shocked to see that it was completely derelict and somewhat abandoned.

In May 2019 there was a large fire in the grounds of Woolton Hall and the Fire Service battled to save this spreading to the Grade 1 listed building. I therefore e-mailed the City Council and asked the following - What is the immediate next steps that the council are taking to secure this property?

Their response: The authority is requiring the owners to secure their property. The authority is also currently discussing with the owner’s architects, potential development schemes with the view of repairing the Hall and bringing it back into use.

I then asked: Have there been a previous attempt of a CPO against the owners of this building unless urgent repair works have taken place? Has this been completed? Have they been fined if this wasn’t undertaken? Their response: The authority has not served a Listed Building Repairs Notice, which could lead to a CPO. Urgent works were carried out in 2013 and 2020. The works were to secure the building and repair leaks and were carried out by owners after requests from the local planning authority.

The images on the right are a mixture of ‘then and now’ images showing the timeline of the building. It has gone from a gentleman’s private residence to now sitting on the cusp of being set fire to with the constant influx of urban explorers who are breaking in each week to access the building.

Let us make no mistake on what is on offer. This is a Grade 1 listed building (the same category as Liverpool Cathedral or the Royal Albert Dock) and should be treated as such. It was built a year after the start of Buckingham Palace and has survived all this time to be left sitting here rotting away with no real concern from the owner to keep the place in order or to provide more security on the building either.

It has survived numbers fires either side of the property and we fear that one attempt further will complete lose this fine structure off the map.

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So what have I personally done to highlight this building and its current plight?

1 - I was interviewed on the BBC to put my campaign across on the plight of the building. This was a very fair and well-structured interview via Radio, and I came across as someone who can see that there is a disconnect between what the owner wants for the future of the building, and what we want as campaigners. The link can be found below.

2 – I liaised with Historic England and gave them the full background on Woolton Hall. After many months of trading e-mail’s, I was delighted when they included it on their Heritage at Risk Register 2021. It is now listed as in poor condition and is at the highest level at their register because of its deterioration.

3 - I’ve spoken to Liverpool City Council and all of the councillors in the ward on many an occasion. They too agree that something needs to be done, but with the cost of restoration, it’s out of the City Council’s hands.

4 - I’ve spoken to the Echo and asked for an update. This was the last article in which I featured in. Again, the owner seems to have their own agenda but what is apparent is that no money is being spent on the very basic level of security.

5 - I also asked Save Britain’s Heritage to feature this building in their monthly feature. They featured this for April 2022 giving fantastic information on the campaign. They have also included this on their At Risk Register!

HISTORIC ENGLAND LIST

RADIO MERSEYSIDE

LIVERPOOL ECHO

NAME AND LOCATION: Woolton Hall, Speke Road

LISTING & OWNERSHIP: Grade I - Privately owned

SECTION 54 OR SECTION 48 SERVED: No feedback from the City Council as to whether either have been served.

LAST CONTACT WITH CITY COUNCIL:

APRIL 2024 – I raised the plight of this building to my contact at Liverpool City Council. Liverpool City Council confirmed that they have met with the owner and his representatives at site. LCC were able to fully access the interior and took a number of photographs of the interior and exterior, and around the site. I am hoping that this report will be available in due course and that further action will be taken against the owner/building on further urgent works notices.

I have also e-mailed my website www.wooltonhall.co.uk across to Liverpool City Council, Save Britain's Heritage and Historic England. An e-mail was sent to Rt Hon Greg Clark MP in August introducing myself and how I have campaigned for the saving of Woolton Hall. To date I have not received a response.

What is the next chapter for our Historic Buildings in Liverpool?

I would like to finish on a verse written on Recollections of a Nonagenarian in 1863 who have summed up Liverpool in its present times:

Could we draw aside the thick veil that hides the future from us, we might perhaps behold our great seaport swelling into a metropolis, in size and importance, its suburbs creeping out to an undreamt-of distance from its centre; or we might, reversing the picture, behold Liverpool by some unthought-of calamity—some fatal, unforeseen mischance, some concatenation of calamities—dwindled down to its former insignificance: its docks shipless, its warehouses in ruins, its streets moss-grown, and in its decay like some bye-gone cities of the east, that once sent out their vessels laden with “cloth of blue, and red barbaric gold.” Under which of these two fates will Liverpool find its lot some centuries hence? Which of these two pictures will it then present?

STOP THE ROT