South Liverpool: Allerton

	All Hallows Church, Allerton All Hallows church was built in 1872-76 for John Bibby (architect G.E. Grayson) in memory of his first wife Fanny, daughter of Jesse Hartley, who in turn designed the Albert Dock warehouses and much else along the Liverpool waterfront. The church building is particularly fine, but is of special interest because 14 of the 15 stained glass windows were designed by Edward Burne-Jones and constructed by William Morris & Co. Burne-Jones thought that the east window, The Adoration of the Lamb, probably based on a painting by Van Eyck, was his finest window design.
	All Hallows Church, Allerton
Allerton in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) The local pronunciation is Ollerton [news to me!]. Allerton is a suburban township [...] pleasantly situated on the gentle slopes of a ridge which rises on the eastern side to 230 feet above sea level, overlooking the River Mersey across the adjacent township of Garston. There are several large residences with their private grounds set in the midst of pastures and a few arable fields. There are plantations of trees, some of a fair size for a suburban district. An air of tidiness reigns over what remains of the natural features, with neatly-kept hedges and railed-in paddocks, and shrubs grown to rule and measure. The roads are good, and the soil, apparently clay and sand, appears fertile, and is of course much cultivated; good cereals are successfully grown. [...] The Calderstones estate, formed in 1828 by Joseph Need Walker of Liverpool, has lately been purchased by the corporation of Liverpool. The famous Allerton Oak, mentioned in the Directory of 1825, still stands on the lawn of the house, a very large and ancient tree.
Allerton in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) The township comprises 1531 acres, and consists partly of a luxuriant vale, and partly of gently rising hills, which command fine views of the river Mersey at its widest part, with portions of Cheshire and North Wales. The air is salubrious, and the scenery adorned with wood; the soil is of various quality, in some parts sandy, and in others a stiff clay. Allerton Hall was until 1816 the residence of William Roscoe, [...] Wyncote is the residence of Joseph Shipley, Esq. and Allerton Priory, of Theodore Woolman Rathbone, Esq. Here is a large Druidical monument called Calder Stones, in digging round which, more than sixty years ago, urns of coarse clay were found, containing human bones: the stones were surrounded with a neat iron palisade in 1845; and not far distant is the residence of Joseph N. Walker, Esq., named, after them, Calderstones. There is a quarry of red sandstone.
	Quarry Bank, Allerton The most magnificent merchant houses this side of the river were built in Allerton in the 19th century, when it was still the countryside, and it became the wealthiest Victorian suburb of Liverpool. Many have been destroyed, but this page features the best of those remaining and related buildings. According to Quentin Hughes, 'This splendid heritage of irreplaceable mansions has, in many cases, been wantonly thrown away'. The gothic Quarry Bank was built in 1866-7 for timber merchant James Bland. Just to the north is the italianate Hartfield, built in the late 1840s with later additions. Both of these houses now form part of Calderstones Comprehensive School. Both of my children once attended here, but the school is perhaps more famous under the original name of Quarry Bank for being the alma mater of John Lennon.
	The Four Seasons, Calderstones Park This imposing entrance to Calderstones Park was originally the entrance to iron and copper merchant John Bibby's mansion Harthill, demolished in 1937. The gateposts are supported by giant atlantes (male caryatids or Atlas figures) and the scene is completed by allegorical figures of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The statues were originally located on the roof of Brown's Buildings, an office block designed (grandly, one assumes) by Picton in 1861-3. This used to stand next to the Town Hall but was demolished in 1926, when the statues were relocated here.
	Harthill Lodge, Allerton An attractive lodge house having fared, as is common in Allerton, rather better than the original house.
	The Mansion House, Calderstones Park Lead shot manufacturer Joseph Need Walker demolished the original farmhouse known as the Old House when he acquired the estate in 1825 and by 1828 this Georgian-style Mansion House was completed on the site. The grounds have become the beautiful Calderstones Park, though the building has been subject to some unsympathetic alterations over the years and now houses council offices and a small café. The extensive stables and coach house are at the rear.
	Allerton Golf Course Allerton golf course on a winter's afternoon. This particular upland area was probably settled in neolithic times, as much of the surrounding area would have been boggy and inhospitable. The name appeared in the Domesday Book and had become Allerton by 1306. It was a royal forest in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the 16th century it was heathland, mostly covered with gorse and heather, perhaps a little like Thurstaston Common on the Wirral.
	Allerton Golf Course Situated on high ground and part of the South Liverpool Green Belt, this is a splendid area to wander around (using the pathways) even for non-golfers, with constantly changing views glimpsed through trees.
	Allerton Golf Course in Autumn
	Allerton This is all that remains of the house known simply as Allerton, whose magnificent grounds became Allerton Golf Course in 1921. It was designed in 1815 for Jacob Fletcher, son of a successful privateer, by Thomas Harrison (who was also the architect of the Lyceum in the city centre). The stables now form the club house. It was the home of the Fletcher family until 1944, when it was destroyed by fire. An old photo shows a rather four-square building on two floors, restrained in style but elegant.
	Allerton Lodge
	The Obelisk This 18th century sandstone obelisk is situated near the remains of the Allerton house. It has been said to have been a landmark for shipping but was perhaps just an eyecatcher on a lost avenue from Allerton Hall.
	The Orangery, Allerton Tower This orangery (along with the lodge and stables) is part of the little that remains of Allerton Tower, designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes (he of St. George's Hall fame) and completed in 1849, two years after his death. An old photograph suggests that the house was of no great beauty and it was demolished in 1937. The landscaped grounds were opened to the public in 1927 and became the attractive Allerton Tower Park. Another of Elmes's mansions in the area was Druid's Cross, now demolished.
	Allerton Tower Lodge The neoclassical lodge is one of the few remaining fragments of Allerton Tower. It marks the entrance on Woolton Road, according to Pevsner, 'one of the most beautiful dual-carriageways in the country [winding] gloriously between mature beeches, many on the central reservation.' See also Menlove Avenue below.
	Yew Tree Walk, Allerton Tower
	Monkey Puzzle Tree, Allerton Tower The Monkey Puzzle Tree, native to parts of Chile and Argentina, is an example of a 'living fossil', a species with no close living relatives that is apparently only known otherwise from fossils. The origin of the popular name derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850. A friend of the owner of a specimen at Pencarrow garden near Bodmin in Cornwall remarked that 'It would puzzle a monkey to climb that'.
	The Green Belt Trail A secluded section of the Green Belt Trail near Allerton Tower. The whole trail, from Calderstones Park to Camp Hill and Woolton Wood, a distance of about 3 miles (5 km), can be traversed on foot without the use of roads.
	Allerton Hall The Palladian Allerton Hall is the earliest of the merchant mansions in Allerton. It was probably begun by Rochdale merchant John Hardman and his brother James, who bought the estate in 1736. It was completed by William Roscoe, merchant, poet, historian, botanist and anti-slave trade campaigner, in 1810-12 in the original Italian style (Roscoe was an italophile), but he had to sell in 1816 because of bankruptcy. It was later owned by the Clarke family, who left it to the city in 1927 and gave their name to the surrounding park (Clarke Gardens). It was severely damaged by fire in 1994 and 1995 but is nowadays an unusual hostelry called The Pub in the Park. The pub interior is interesting and certainly different. The entrance immediately sets the tone, with twin staircases and paintings. Inside there are spacious rooms with wood-panelling, fake books and attractive views over the grounds. There is a 1750 sundial outside.
	Allerton Hall
*A visit to Allerton Hall in A Journal of Travels in England, Holland and Scotland and of two Passages over the Atlantic in the Years 1805 and 1806 (1820)* by Benjamin Silliman** Our road to Allerton Hall was through a most delightful country. The river Mersey was on our right, and the fields sloped with gentle declivity to its banks. The county of Cheshire was extensively in view over the river, and beyond that, Wales with its rude mountains. Allerton-Hall is a stone building which has an air of grandeur; it stands at a considerable distance from the road, in the midst of beautiful grounds, and appears every way fitted to be the residence of its present distinguished possessor. Mr. Roscoe was, (as I am informed,) bred to the bar, but being disgusted with the profession, he turned his attention to literature. He is now connected in business with an extensive banking-house in Liverpool, and retired to this place that he might have more leisure for indulging in his favourite pursuits. His house is filled with statues, busts, and pictures, principally Italian, and in his study, he is surrounded by the figures of the men, who are the subjects of his History of Lorenzo, and of Leo X. Of the latter work, not yet given to the world, he shewed me a copy, and pointed out the beauty of the plates executed from designs on wood.
	Avenue of Chestnut Trees, Clarke Gardens
	Clarke Gardens in Autumn
	Allerton Priory The gothic Allerton Priory was designed on a grand scale in 1866 by Alfred Waterhouse for colliery owner and sometime mayor of Liverpool John Grant Morris and completed in 1871. It is now part of an exclusive housing development in a beautiful setting approached by a landscaped woodland drive.
	Allerton Priory
	Allerton Priory Lodge, Allerton The lodge is a nice example of the many that survive in the south Liverpool area.
	New Hays, Allerton Heading along Allerton Road, the mansions once known as Allerton Beeches, Greenhill (both of 1894 for members of the sugar refining Tate family) and Cleveley (of 1865 for cotton merchant Joseph Leather) are all gone, though the names live on in local roads. New Heys, one of Alfred Waterhouse's earlier mansions of 1861-5 built for (successful, apparently) lawyer W.G Bateson, survives as apartments.
	Springwood, Allerton The neoclassical Springwood was probably designed by John Cunningham and is dated 1839. It was built originally for plantation owner William Shand but was completed under the auspices of ship-owner Thomas Brocklebank. The lodge and stables survive to the north. The house is now a nursing home.
	Blossom and Snow on Mather Avenue, Allerton In spring, south Liverpool is awash with blossom, as here on Mather Avenue (named after Arthur Stanley Mather, Lord Mayor of Liverpool 1915-1916). In April 1996, we had snow as well (unusual here at any time of the year).
	Old Farm House, Allerton A rare reminder of Allerton's former identity as a farming community.
	Menlove Avenue, Allerton The magnificent trees on this section of Menlove Avenue, the main approach road to Liverpool from the south-east, never fail to impress first-time visitors. The road is named after Thomas Menlove (1840-1913), a draper who became Chairman of the City's Health Committee.
	Paul McCartney's Home, 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton This modest terraced house was the home of Paul McCartney and his brother Mike from 1955 and is where the Beatles met, rehearsed and wrote many of their earliest songs. The interior has been reconstructed in an authentic 1950s style and is so small that you wonder how they ever got a drum kit inside. There are plenty of early Beatles memorabilia including family photographs by Mike McCartney. Entrance must be pre-arranged through the National Trust. Comparison of this house with Mendips, where John Lennon was brought up (see the Woolton section), is intriguing. Paul, often labelled a 'social climber' was evidently raised in a more working class family environment than the middle class, self-styled 'working class hero', John. Both would seem to have felt a need to distance themselves from their origins.