Historic Liverpool Dwellings - Bark Hill

 

In 1809, Liverpool corn merchant Nicholas Robinson bought land from the Tarleton family in Aigburth, to the south-east of Liverpool, for £4,500. James Sheriff’s Map of Liverpool and Environs of 1816 labels the building in Aigburth as 'Bark Hill, N Robinson Esq'. ,although the architect is not known. Robinson went on to build Sudley House, a short distance to the north of Bark Hill, moving there in 1824. He was subsequently Mayor of Liverpool in 1828 to 1829. Gore’s Directory of Liverpool for 1825, 1827, and 1829 all record the occupant of Bark Hill as Thomas Addison, gentleman. G Hennet’s map of Lancashire drawn in 1829 labels the house 'Bark Hill' and J Bennison's 1835 A Map of The Town and Port of Liverpool with their Environs labels it as 'Bark Hill, Thomas Addison'. Thomas and his brother, Richard were the sons of slave ship captain and owner turned merchant, John Addison. Both Richard and Thomas owned plantations and slaves in Jamaica for which they were compensated. In 1831 Richard Addison's address was also recorded as 'Bank Hill (apparently a misspelling), Liverpool'. There is no record that Thomas married or had children, so it appears that upon his death the house was inherited by Richard’s three surviving sons, Thomas, Richard and the Rev'd John Addison. They are still named on the 1840-1842 Garston Tithe Schedule, though the house had been advertised for sale in 1839. On the 7th of May 1839 an advertisement in the Liverpool Mail offered two properties of the late Thomas Addison for auction. One was Bark Hill, described as ' late the property and residence of Thomas Addison Esq'. It stated that the house 'commands a delightful sea and land view, and is on a scale comprising every comfort and convenience for a large family'. The 17 hectares of land were tastefully laid out in gardens, pleasure-grounds and two fields, the whole sheltered by a plantation.

The five-bay main house of two storeys with a basement, had a single-storey billiard room to the east and a four bay west service wing of two storeys and basement with a small yard and structures at the west end and is one of the earliest fashionable villas surviving in one of the most exclusive residential areas of Liverpool favoured by rich merchants and ship owners of the 19th century. It was succeeded by James Howell, a cotton broker in 1845. He had served his apprenticeship with Godfrey Barnsley and Reynolds, and commenced business on his own account in 1827. Then in 1854 his son, Mr. John J. Howell, and his son-in-law, Mr. R. H. Job, joined the firm which then became James Howell and Sons. James Howell's daughter named a ship 'Barkhill' from the Baffin Street yard of Thomas Royden. Mr. Howell senior died in June 1872, aged seventy years. By 1861 the occupant was John Lightfoot Newall, another cotton broker and a magistrate. In 1871 the house was now owned by Charles Langton, a marine insurance broker who was the great grandson of Thomas Langton, owner of several slave ships between 1766 and 1772, and his father, Joseph, who was first manager of the Bank of Liverpool. He had married Ann Earle, a member of one of Liverpool’s leading slave trading families. Charles was a Director of Union Marine Insurance Co Limited, sat on the boards of various other companies, was involved in charitable work, and was a noted Victorian collector. He lived at Bark Hill with his wife Jessie and four of their children, along with eight live-in staff. Shortly after moving in he extended the house. Plans were drawn up by William Culshaw and Son in May 1874 for a single-storey extension to the west end of the service wing containing a new servants' hall, large scullery, pantry and larder. W Culshaw and Son again drew up plans in 1880 for a drawing room with a square bay window on the site of the billiard room with bedrooms above and a single-storey ante room with a roof lantern on the north side. In 1881 plans were drawn up for an apsidal conservatory reached from the room now labelled as the drawing room.

This early nineteenth century neoclassical villa of some quality, now extended, took advantage of expansive views across the River Mersey to the hills beyond. Internally the historic layout is largely retained, with a central circular vestibule and first-floor room opening into a grand, top-lit staircase hall, also main reception rooms located on the south side to take advantage of the aspect. The vestibule and grand staircase hall are notable for the high quality of their decoration and detail, including a cantilevered main staircase, plasterwork, panelling and a raised lantern above. Other notable fixtures and fittings include cornices, moulded architraves and panelled doors, and several timber mantel pieces.

Interior cornice moulds inside Bark Hill saved after Historic England listing

It typifies the early nineteenth century popularity of high-quality villas set in private grounds as an ideal of a rural retreat, and within the suburban Liverpool context illustrates the connection between fine architecture and owners made rich directly or indirectly through their links with the Transatlantic slave trade. Decorative ironwork to the garden front represents an increasingly rare survival of Georgian cast-iron.
In 1919, Bark Hill was purchased by Irene Mabel Marsh as a physical training college for women. ( see more about her here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/06/a-liverpool-exemplar-irene-mabel-marsh.html ). It was later renamed, after her death, IM Marsh College of Physical Education, until LJMU closed the site and issued plans to pull down the historic villa. However Mossley Hill Residents’ Association submitted a fast-track listing application for Bark Hill and members' subscriptions paid £5600 to ensure the investigations by Historic England were carried out within 18 weeks. It was then announced that after six months work the principal building on the Liverpool John Moore's University I.M. Marsh campus in Barkhill Road, Aigburth had been designated as a Grade II Listed building.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/12/historic-liverpool-dwellings-woolton.html