Greenbank House, is a Grade II*-listed building in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It stands within the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

's Greenbank Halls of Residence site, between Greenbank Road and Greenbank Lane.

History

Original house

The original house was built in the early eighteenth century on part of the Toxteth Park estate. In 1788,

William Rathbone IV William Rathbone IV (10 June 1757 – 11 February 1809) was an English ship-owner and merchant involved in the organisation of American trade with Liverpool, England. He was a political radical, supporting the abolition of the slave trade and unive ...

leased the family house and estate, which consisted of 24

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s of land, from the

Earl of Sefton Earl of Sefton was a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1771 for the 8th Viscount Molyneux. The Earls of Sefton held the subsidiary titles Viscount Molyneux, of Maryborough in the Queen's County (created 1628), in the Peerage of Ire ...

to serve as a country retreat for his young family.

Rathbone family

The

Rathbone family The Rathbone family of Liverpool, England, were a family of nonconformist merchants and ship-owners who were known to engage in philanthropy and public service. The family origins trace back to Gawsworth, near Macclesfield, where the first Willi ...

purchased the

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

of Greenbank House in 1809, the year of William Rathbone IV's death. Following his death, the house was left to his widow Hannah Mary Rathbone for her lifetime. She made a number of substantial alterations to the building. A large part was rebuilt in the

Strawberry Hill Gothic Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

style and a

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

screen was added to the house to form a

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

and

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

. Internal changes were also made. In 1812, following the marriage of

William Rathbone V William Rathbone V (17 June 1787 – 1 February 1868) was an English merchant and politician, serving as Lord Mayor of Liverpool. Life The notability and prosperity of the Rathbone family of Liverpool was tied to the growth of that city as a ma ...

to Elizabeth Greg, Hannah Mary retired to a purpose built cottage nearby. The American artist

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

visited the Rathbone family at Greenbank House during his visit to Liverpool in the 1820s. The writer

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

and his wife Sophia Peabody Hawthorne were also guests of the Rathbones during Hawthorne's time in Liverpool as the United States consul. Some of the land had passed from Rathbone family control in 1897, when

Liverpool Corporation Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor J ...

entered into an agreement with the Rathbone Family to purchase the piece of land, part of which is now

Greenbank Park Greenbank Park is a public park in Liverpool, England, with the middle of the park dominated by a small lake. It is situated in the suburb of Mossley Hill in the south of the city, close to Penny Lane and Sefton Park. Historical background Th ...

. Greenbank was occupied by Hugh Reynolds Rathbone and Emily Evelyn Rathbone in 1918 on the death of Emily Acheson Rathbone, widow of

William Rathbone VI William Rathbone VI (11 February 1819 – 6 March 1902) was an English merchant and businessman noted for his philanthropic and public work. He was an English Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1868 and 1895. ...

. Hugh Reynolds Rathbone had strong connections with the

, and towards the ends of their lives Hugh and Emily donated parts of the Greenbank estate to the University as a site for student accommodation. On land donated in 1929, the University built Derby Hall, which opened in 1939.

University of Liverpool

The house and remaining estate remained in Rathbone hands until the death of Hugh Reynolds Rathbone on 19 January 1940. Between 1939 and 1948 remaining parts of the estate were donated by Hugh and Emily's children. The house itself was requisitioned by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in 1940, but in 1944 it too was donated to the University. It formed an annexe to Derby Hall until 1963-4, when it was converted for use as a student and staff social club. The University of Liverpool is in the process of renovating the house, with the intention of reinstating its original features. On completion, the house will be used for university teaching facilities.

Architecture

Exterior

The main facade house consists of three bays, over two stories. There is a central, ground floor

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

flanked by two canted,

crenelated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

bay windows 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 r ...

. The south facade consists of four bays, covered by a two-storey, cast-iron

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

, installed in the early 19th century. Pollard and

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

, believe the ironwork was likely produced at the

Coalbrookdale Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...

foundry, which at the time was owned by Hannah Rathbone's father. An extension in red

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) ...

was added in 1868, with a conservatory being built in 1869.

Interior

The majority of the original interior is extant, and is a mixture of

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and Neoclassical styles. The principal rooms contain both Gothic Revival and Neoclassical

fireplaces A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

and decorative

plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...

. The entrance hall features a plaster

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

ceiling, with wheel-shaped ceiling bosses.

Blue Plaque recognition

The property has been marked by an

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Blue Plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

since 29 July 2001, which honours

Eleanor Rathbone Eleanor Florence Rathbone (12 May 1872 – 2 January 1946) was an independent British Member of Parliament (MP) and long-term campaigner for family allowance and for women's rights. She was a member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool. E ...

(1872–1946),

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and pioneer of the state-funded family allowance, and her father,

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

(1819–1902), who created the first system of district nursing. The plaque was unveiled by William Rathbone X in 2001.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool University of Liverpool