 Speke Hall
In a most unlikely setting, at the edge of a modern industrial estate and
bordering on the runway of Liverpool Airport, stands this enchanting
black and white, half-timbered Tudor mansion. Having suffered long periods
of desertion and neglect, it is little short of a miracle that the building
has survived at all, but even more surprising is that is has remained
virtually unaltered since it was first built for the Norris family some
450 years ago. It was William Norris II who began building the house
as seen today, with funds accumulated from the spoils of war, and he
also started the long tradition of Norris's becoming members of parliament
for Liverpool.
Being a proud Catholic, and
Royalist, family, the Norris fortunes tended to fluctuate throughout
the reign of Elizabeth I, and again during the Civil War. By the end
of the 17th century Sir William VI stabilised the family's standing,
and secured Speke Hall for his descendants, when he received many valuable
gifts as a result of his position as Ambassador to the court of the Mogul
Emperor. Towards the end of the 18th century the house was
abandoned by the family, who then preferred to live in the more fashionable
environment of London, and the dilapidated estate was finally sold in 1795.
A local lad 'come good',
Richard Watt, had made his money in Jamaica from the sugar plantations
and decided to invest his hard-earned wealth in property. Leaving Speke Hall
to his great nephew, who substantially refurbished this delightful country
home, it was again vacated in 1813. After a period of tenancies, the house
became thoroughly neglected and almost ruinous before Richard Watt V and
his new bride began the arduous task of restoration in 1856. Both dying
before they were 30 years old, and leaving only a young daughter to inherit
on her coming of age, Speke Hall was leased to Frederick Leyland for 10 years.
As manager of the Bibby Shipping
Company, Leyland was a relatively wealthy man, and ploughed a lot of
money into the redecoration of this magnificent old house. His understanding
and appreciation of the Arts and Crafts featured prominently in the
Victorian refurbishment of Speke Hall, from his use of contemporary wallpapers
by William Morris to his collection of Old Masters.
When Adelaide Watt came into
her inheritance of Speke Hall, she set about developing a huge new farm
complex, and was determined that such an historic property should be
preserved for all time, irrespective of the massive amount of industrial development
that was fast spreading out from the city. Having made a limited provision
in her will to save the house, the estate was sold after she died in
1921, and the farm complex transformed into an aerodrome. It is amazingly surreal
to be wandering along the uneven corridors of the hall, quietly absorbed
in the atmosphere of a romantic Elizabethan courtyard house, when suddenly
the throaty sounds of a 20th century jet rudely interrupt the
visions of a more genteel way of life.
Recently this 16th century mansion has developed another curious link, this time with the
'sixties' pop phenomenon, the Beatles. Since the opening of Paul McCartney's childhood home, just a couple of miles away in Allerton, Speke Hall has been designated as a
starting point for the tours.> |
