Historic Liverpool Dwellings - Harbreck House

 

Fazakerley began life as a town field of Walton, which probably led to its name (from the Anglo-Saxon meaning the border field with the clearing in a wood). The boundary of the township was party formed by the Tue Brook and Fazakerley Brook. Harbreck House, Higher Lane, Fazakerley was situated in Bluebell Woods, just north of Fazakerley Brook, built in 1740, it was once owned by two Lord Mayors of Liverpool. William Sparling of Sparling Street fame lived there and he was famous for fighting the penultimate duel in the city with Edward Grayson in 1804.
The site is not covered by the Yates and Perry map of 1768 and no house is shown on the Molyneux estate plan of 1769, as the site falls outside of the estate holdings, and so it is unclear who built the house and who sold it to the council. The land is, however, labelled Stannanought's Lane and deeds dated the 13th of November 1801 record the transfer of Stranaughts house, from Richard Higginson the younger to Richard Higginson the elder. They also record that it had previously been owned by the Moore family. A release of an estate in Fazakerley dated 26th January 1822 from William Aspinall (deceased) to Richard Bullin includes a map of the estate, showing the house to the south of the moated site and the buildings in the gardens then on that part of the site. 

A map of 1828 indicates that many properties around here were owned by Richard Leyland and Bennison's map of 1835 labels the house as Richard Leyland. This was actually Richard Bullin who assumed the name of his uncle, partner and benefactor, Thomas Leyland. It shows that half way along Longmoor Lane is a path leading to Harbreck Cottages and out again on Lower Lane. Sadly, this path and many others like it are lost. Census records show a number of lanes that have disappeared from the area such as 'Old Lane' and 'Intake Lane' but it is impossible to say where exactly these were. It is recorded on the Tithe map of 1846 as No. 86, house, pleasure ground and part of plantation, owned by John Naylor and occupied by George Crane. The house is labelled as Harbeck House on the 1st edition 6" OS map of 1850. The house and grounds were let to various people by the Leyland family and their heirs over the years. Wealthy people often moved their families away from the cities to protect themselves from the diseases which may have been brought here by the merchant ships they used to create their fortunes and between the years 1851 to 1855 and possibly longer, it was the home of a rich and influential cotton merchant and his family with Gores Directory for 1853 recording that Jaques Myers lived in Harbreck House and also had a business 'Myers and Co' at 2 Exchange Alley. According to census records, Jaques and his family were still living in Harbreck House in 1851. The family had moved to Harbreck House sometime between 1849 and 1851and Jaques was so successful, he became President of the Cotton Brokers Association in 1852. This was a powerful body, who in 1863, formulated rules for the buying and selling of cotton. 60% of the worlds cotton today is still traded under "Liverpool Rules" and the association still exists under the name of the International Cotton Association.  Henry Lafone, a blockade-runner with one of his sons the recipient of a VC, bought the house off Mr Myers circa 1858 before eventually selling to Joseph Walton, a wine and spirit merchant sometime around 1868.

On the 2nd edition 25" OS map of 1908, to the northeast it is labelled as Nurses' Home with Aintree Hospital having been built by that time. In 1898, the Liverpool Corporation had bought the Harbreck House Estate, of 118 acres, for £39,915, for one of a series of new hospitals. Funds for the project were secured in 1899 and plans were drawn up by Thomas Shelmerdine for a new wing to Harbreck House, which was to be used as an administrative block for the hospital. This was to be called City Hospital North, and opened in three phases. The first, the Fazakerley Annex, opened in 1901, and was a set of wooden buildings on the fields of the former Harbreck Farm of Higher Lane. In 1903 the mansion was described as having been considerably extended to form an administrative department for the already existing smallpox pavilions. It was also providing accommodation for the staff and the cooking facilities for the whole hospital. The second phase was brick-built, and opened in 1906 near to the first set of buildings. In 1913 the third phase began on Sparrowhall Farm land. This was known commonly as the 'Sparrowhall Hospital', though its official name was the Infection Diseases Hospital.

In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, the hospital complex was taken over by the military to treat sick and injured soldiers. In this guise it was known as the 1st Western Military Hospital, and remained in the hands of the armed forces until the end of the conflict. This building is last recorded on the OS map of 1988 and it was demolished sometime before 1992. In 1994/5 Lancaster University Archaeological Unit carried out an excavation and numerous machine-made brick walls or cellars were found. It became the 'Fazakerley Infectious Hospital' in 1947 and, after joining the National Health Service in 1948, it became the Fazakerley Hospital in 1968. The maternity unit was completed in 1969 and, after a major-rebuilding programme, the hospital reopened as the 'Fazakerley District General Hospital' in 1974. It then became the "University Hospital Aintree" in 1999 and in July 2016 the hospital, together with the Walton Centre, became the single receiving site for major trauma patients in Merseyside. An expanded urgent care and trauma centre was officially opened by the Duke of Cambridge in September 2017.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/01/historic-liverpool-dwellings-hurst-hall.html