Dawpool was a country house in the village of

Thurstaston Thurstaston is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It is part of the West Kirby and Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. The village lies on the A540 roa ...

, Wirral,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

, England. It was built for the shipowner

Thomas Henry Ismay Thomas Henry Ismay (7 January 1837 – 23 November 1899) was the founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, more commonly known as the White Star Line. His son Joseph Bruce Ismay was managing director of the ''White Star Line''; and, in ...

in 1882–86 and designed by

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

. Ismay died in 1899, the family moved out of the house in 1907, and it was demolished in 1927. Parts of the house were re-used in other buildings. Two buildings associated with the house, a lodge and the stables, have survived and are

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The estate of Dawpool was bought in 1877 by

, owner of the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...

. He demolished the house on the site and commissioned

to design a new house. The house was built between 1882 and 1886. Ismay died in 1899 at Dawpool, and the family moved out of the house in 1907. It was then sold to F. W. P. Rutter and was used as an orthopaedic hospital for officers in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The house was later sold to Sir Henry Roberts, and demolished in 1927. Before the house was demolished a sale was held and parts of the house were re-used elsewhere. The large chimneypiece from the dining room went to form part of the entrance to what is now a restaurant in Borough Road,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

. Another immense fireplace was reused at

Portmeirion Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the co ...

as the main facade of a building, the Pantheon. Parts of other chimneypieces went to private houses in

Heswall Heswall is a town on the Wirral, Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was 16,012, including the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 it was part of the administr ...

and

Bebington Bebington () is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula. ...

, and other pieces went to Llandudno, and to Iwerne Minster House, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. A smaller house was later built on the site.

Description and appraisal

Dawpool was a large house, built in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, and in Tudor style. It was asymmetrical, and its features included

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or ...

s, and large

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed windows. Inside the house was a large gallery with a barrel vaulted ceiling. The house reputedly cost over £50,000 to build, and the materials used were of the highest quality. Hartwell ''et al'' comment that it was one of Shaw's major works, and one of the first of his to be destroyed. However de Figueiredo and Treuherz comment that the house showed Shaw "at his most grim and stark", and that it was a "dark, forbidding house". It was not liked by other members of the family, Ismay's wife commenting that "the house had served its purpose in keeping er husbandamused for fifteen years".

Associated structures

Two buildings also designed by Shaw and associated with the house have survived, a lodge and the stables. The lodge stands at the entrance to the drive. It is in sandstone with a Welsh slate roof, and has an L-shaped plan. Its gate piers are inscribed with

liver bird The liver bird is a mythical creature which is the symbol of the English city of Liverpool. It is normally represented as a cormorant, and appears as such on the city's arms, in which it bears a branch of laver seaweed in its beak as a furth ...

s, a symbol of Liverpool. The lodge, its gates and gate piers are recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Opposite the lodge, and on the other side of the road are the former stables, which have been converted into a house known as The Clock Tower. The building is in stone with tiled roofs, with two storeys and a six- bay front. The middle two bays rise to a greater height, contain a clock face, and have an embattled

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

and a pyramidal roof. This building is also designated Grade II.

Notes

References

Citations Sources * *

External links

Photographs of the exteriorThe exterior and Albion HousePhotograph of the interior of the gallery
{{coord, 53.3505, -3.1347, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Richard Norman Shaw buildings Grade II listed buildings in Merseyside Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Houses completed in 1886