Thornton Manor, Birkenhead, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

W H Lever first moved to Thornton Manor in 1888, renting the modest Victorian house so that he could be close to Port Sunlight. He bought it in 1891 and began a campaign of works on both the house and gardens. Thomas Mawson (1861-1933) was invited to advise on the garden in 1905 and work on house and grounds continued until the First World War. The gardens were the first of a series of three major private gardens produced by Mawson in collaboration with the Lord Leverhulme, the other two being The Hill, Hampstead, London and Roynton Cottage, Rivington Gardens, Lancashire (there are descriptions of both these sites elsewhere in the Register). Thornton Manor remains in use as a private residence (1997).