Obviously due partially to its accessibility this place comes up now and again but wanted to put a report up for two reasons, it’s current condition and to keep it relevant in the hope that someone somewhere might see it and have the desire to restore it (along with the reported £3 million purchase fee)!
I was shown around by the caretaker and former owner John who gives it the “personal touch”. He happily talked through its history and little personal stories as we walked round. Told me he bought it for £15,000 in the 1980’s.....what a steal!
Onto the history, 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.
In the 1870’s the McGuffies a family of shipowners who demolished the west wing and converted it into a Hydropathic Hotel. After living there for some 30 years the hotel closed in 1912
After a short spell as the headquarters of the Middlesex Regiment and as an army hospital in the 1950s the building was converted into a fee-paying girls' school under the management of the Convent of Notre Dame. In 1970 the small school merged with Notre Dame High School located on Mount Pleasant to form Notre Dame Woolton (now St Julie's Catholic High School). As the school expanded new modern buildings were built nearby leading to Woolton Hall to be abandoned.
Soon the building fell into disrepair, eventually being marked for demolition in the 1980s. The building was saved after local resident John Hibbert purchased the Hall and spent £100,000 in refurbishments, soon after Woolton Hall become a Grade I listed building on 28 June 1982. In 2005 Mr Hibbert sold the building to the Chaudhry family and there were plans to convert the estate and house into retirement care flats but the building remains unused ever since.
Today the building is rapidly decaying, pigeons roam the upper floors and the tests of time and vandalism can clearly be seen.
Entrance hall
Function rooms
House safe
Was still making money!
Octagon room with one of the many ornate ceilings
Extensive Cellars
I was shown around by the caretaker and former owner John who gives it the “personal touch”. He happily talked through its history and little personal stories as we walked round. Told me he bought it for £15,000 in the 1980’s.....what a steal!
Onto the history, 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.
In the 1870’s the McGuffies a family of shipowners who demolished the west wing and converted it into a Hydropathic Hotel. After living there for some 30 years the hotel closed in 1912
After a short spell as the headquarters of the Middlesex Regiment and as an army hospital in the 1950s the building was converted into a fee-paying girls' school under the management of the Convent of Notre Dame. In 1970 the small school merged with Notre Dame High School located on Mount Pleasant to form Notre Dame Woolton (now St Julie's Catholic High School). As the school expanded new modern buildings were built nearby leading to Woolton Hall to be abandoned.
Soon the building fell into disrepair, eventually being marked for demolition in the 1980s. The building was saved after local resident John Hibbert purchased the Hall and spent £100,000 in refurbishments, soon after Woolton Hall become a Grade I listed building on 28 June 1982. In 2005 Mr Hibbert sold the building to the Chaudhry family and there were plans to convert the estate and house into retirement care flats but the building remains unused ever since.
Today the building is rapidly decaying, pigeons roam the upper floors and the tests of time and vandalism can clearly be seen.
Entrance hall
Function rooms
House safe
Was still making money!
Octagon room with one of the many ornate ceilings
Extensive Cellars
