Illawalla was an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

single-story building in the Skippool area of

Thornton, Lancashire Thornton is a village in the Borough of Wyre, about north of Blackpool and south of Fleetwood. The civil parish of Thornton became an urban district in 1900, and was renamed Thornton-Cleveleys in 1927. In 2011 the Thornton built-up area sub di ...

, England. Built in 1902,''Blackpool Times'' article, 21 June, 1902 it was demolished in 1996, after lying derelict for six years, to make way for three exclusive homes. Its name is preserved in the name of the road on which these houses now stand (The Illawalla) and also in the name of the adjacent

cricket club Zee Marathi is an Indian general entertainment channel which carries programming in Marathi. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on 15 August 1999 and was known as Alpha TV Marathi until 28 March 2005, then ...

(Thornton Cleveleys Cricket Club Illawalla), whose grounds partly occupy the land Illawalla stood on. ''Illawalla'' in

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

means ''the house of plenty''. It is believed Frederick J. Emery, one of the early owners of the property, gave it this name to reflect his spell as a government official in Australia.

History

Illawalla's architects were Tom Wilson Fairbrother and Charles Llewelyn Hall, of Fairbrother & Hall in

Poulton-le-Fylde Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation i ...

. The building's

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was laid by

Vesta Tilley Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 19 ...

on 12 June 1902. Tilley was appearing at Blackpool's Alhambra Theatre, whose chairman was Charles V. Howarth, the Illawalla's first owner.''A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre''
– Nick Moore (2018), p. 565 Upon completion, it was the largest bungalow in Europe."Ballroom blitzed" article by David Pearce, '' Evening Gazette'', 24 April, 1996 According to a ''Blackpool Times'' article from 21 June 1902: One of the rooms featured a plaster

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

depicting wading birds along the nearby

River Wyre The River Wyre is a river in Lancashire, England, United Kingdom, which flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) in length. The river is a County Biological Heritage Site and has a sheltered estuary ...

. Haworth lived with his wife at Illawalla up to his death in 1920. His widow continued to live there for several subsequent years. It was next acquired by Ernest Broadbelt, a wholesale fruit merchant from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

.''A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre''
– Nick Moore (2018), p. 565 He was its owner during the late 1920s and 1930s. In 1942, it was bought by Frederick J. Emery, but he was unable to move into the building for three years because it was being used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as a transit camp. It was later taken over by the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...

. Later in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

it became a home run by the Ministry of Health for pregnant evacuees.Fyldeantiquarian
at Tapatalk.com In the early 1950s, Emery leased the land overlooking the River Wyre to the local cricket club, who remain there today. Several of the interior scenes for the 1977 film '' Valentino'' were shot in Illawalla's sunken entrance hall. For the final years of its existence, after failing in an attempt to become a gentlemen's club, it instead became a nightclub. Emmanuel Christian School in

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830s, when the principal lando ...

inquired about taking over Illawalla in 1995, but Wyre Borough Council rejected the plan amid fears of the close proximity of an underground pipeline carrying ethylene to ICI Hillhouse in Thornton. The building was demolished in April 1996, after lying derelict for six years, to make way for three luxury homes. Only two carved stone pillars remain on the site. They are used at the entrance to the current development. Many parts of the building were salvaged and are now used privately.

References in popular culture

Glyn Bailey & the Many Splendid Things wrote "The Old Illawalla" about the building. It is the opening track on the 2010 album ''The Disturbance''. The opening line of the song is: "There once stood, at the edge of town, an Edwardian pile of great renown, but in '96 we pulled it down". Three years earlier Bailey released an album called ''Songs from the Old Illawalla''.''Songs from the Old Illawalla'' on iTunes
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Gallery

File:Floor plan of The Illawalla.jpg, Floor plan of Illawalla, drawn up by the architects Fairbrother & Hall File:Illawalla & workmen c1902.jpg, The workmen involved in the construction of Illawalla, taken shortly before its 1902 completion File:Illawalla aerial.jpg, An aerial view of Illawalla in its heyday File:Illawalla admission ticket.jpg, A free-admission ticket for a "Friday night party night" when the establishment was known as a country club in the late 1970s File:The Illawalla gates.jpeg, One of the two stone pillars that mark the entrance to today's development File:Thornton Cricket Club.jpeg, The homes that now stand in Illawalla's place in view behind Thornton Cleveleys Cricket Club. This view is looking north

References

External links

A gallery of photos of The Illawalla
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illawalla, The Buildings and structures in the Borough of Wyre The Fylde Edwardian architecture Houses completed in 1902 Buildings and structures demolished in 1996 Demolished buildings and structures in England