Thornton Hough () is a village on the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

, in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England, of pre-

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

origins. The village grew during the ownership of Joseph Hirst into a small model village and was later acquired by

William Lever William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools ...

, founder of

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

, the predecessor of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

. Thornton Hough is roughly from

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 ...

and from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. Administratively, it is part of the Clatterbridge Ward of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Be ...

and is in the parliamentary constituency of

Wirral South Wirral South is a constituency in Merseyside, England represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Alison McGovern of the Labour Party since 2010. Constituency profile Wirral South covers the central part of the Wirral peninsu ...

. At the 2001 census, Thornton Hough had 770 inhabitants.

History

The name Thornton means "thorn-tree farm/settlement" and likely derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

words ''þorn'' (hawthorn tree) and ''tūn'' (a farmstead or settlement). It is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as ''Torintone'', under the ownership of

Robert of Rhuddlan Robert of Rhuddlan (died 3 July 1093) was a Norman adventurer who became lord of much of north-east Wales and for a period lord of all North Wales. Robert was the son of Humphrey de Tillieul (or Bigod) and Adeliza de Grentemesnil, brother of Arn ...

. The present name of the village was established when the daughter of local landowner Roger de Thorneton, married Richard de Hoghe during the reign of

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

. By the beginning of the 19th century, Thornton Hough formed part of the Neston Estate owned by

Baron Mostyn Baron Mostyn, of Mostyn in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1831 for Sir Edward Lloyd, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Flint Boroughs and Beaumaris in the House of Commons. His so ...

of Mostyn, Flintshire. The population was recorded as 165 in 1801, 164 in 1851, 547 in 1901 and 506 in 1951. Joseph Hirst, a Yorkshire woollen millowner, bought farmland land in 1866 and began the development of a small model village, building a church, a school and 'Wilshaw Terrace'. The village was bought and expanded by

who developed housing for family, estate workers and company staff in a similar way to

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it ...

, building another shop, the school, a social club and the Congregational church. Development continued in the early 20th century.

Geography

Thornton Hough is in the central part of the Wirral Peninsula, approximately south-south-east of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

at Leasowe Lighthouse, north-east of the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary ( cy, Aber Dyfrdwy) is a large estuary by means of which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five-mile (8 km) 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles ...

at Parkgate and about west-south-west of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

at Bromborough. The centre of the village is situated at an elevation of between above sea level.

Landmarks

All Saints Church, Thornton Hough - geograph

Thornton Hough and the villages of

Brimstage Brimstage () is a village in the centremost part of the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It is approximately east of Heswall and south west of Bebington. Administratively, it is within the Clatterbridge Ward of the Metropolitan Borough ...

and Raby are in an Area of Special Landscape Value, a protective designation to preserve the character and appearance of the area There are 22

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 ...

in the village which was made a conservation area in 1979. Hirst employed Kirk and Sons of Huddersfield to design All Saints Church and its vicarage, a school and school master's house and Wilshaw Terrace before 1870. All Saints, the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, is a grade II listed building built in 1867, it has a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

and tower displaying five clock faces. The north transept window, designed by

H. Gustave Hiller Henry Gustave Hiller (1865–1946) was an artist based in Liverpool, England. He studied at the Manchester School of Art and is mainly known as a designer of painted gesso reliefs and stained glass. Works Stained glass *Accrington Library, ...

is a memorial to Joseph Hirt. Lever's architects used a wide variety of building materials including red and buff sandstone, brick, timber framing, render and pebbledash with roofs made of clay tiles or thick stone slates which creates the impression that the village appears to be older than it is. Lever used several architects, including John Douglas. The firm of

Grayson and Ould Grayson and Ould was the title of an architectural practice in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, during the late 19th and early 20th century. The partners were George Enoch Grayson (1833/4–1912) (usually known as G. E. Grayson) and Edward Ould ...

designed the Village Club and Post Office, Weald House, several houses in The Folds and rebuilt Thornton House in 1895 and designed its lodges and stables. Jonathon Simpson built the Lever School and his son, James Lomax-Simpson, rebuilt the Smithy, designed D’Arcy Cottages and extensions to Thornton House. He also designed Saint George's United Reformed Church, a reproduction Romanesque style church in 1906. William and Segar Owen designed various houses including Thicketford. Thornton Hall, once the home of wealthy shipping merchants, the Bamford Brothers of Liverpool, is believed to have been built in the mid-1800s. It was transformed into a hotel in 1954 and many of its original features remain intact including oak carvings and the ornate mother of pearl embossed ceiling in the Italian Room.

Thornton Manor Thornton Manor is a large manor house in the village of Thornton Hough, Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* Listed building#England and Wales, l ...

, built in an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

style dates from the 1840s, and was once the home of

Lord Leverhulme William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church school ...

. From 2005 the house and gardens underwent extensive renovation. The building is now a wedding venue and provides facilities for corporate functions. Thornton House, a grade II listed building built by Douglas & Fordham in 1893 is a two-storey timber-framed house in a mock-Tudor style on a stone base. Thicketford built in 1892 is preserved in a largely unaltered condition. Hesketh Grange, a grade II listed building, was built in 1894 for Leverhulme's father.

Governance

Thornton Hough was a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the parish of

Neston Neston is a town and civil parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It is part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The village of Parkgate is located to the north west and the villages of Little Neston and Nes ...

, of the

Wirral Hundred The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...

. It became a civil parish in 1866.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

within the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, it was part of the

Wirral Rural District Wirral Rural District was a rural district on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1933. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Sanitary district, Wirral Rural Sanitary District. From the beginning of th ...

between 1894 and 1933, subsequently moving within the boundaries of a jurisdiction that would become the

Municipal Borough of Bebington Bebington was a local government district on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It was the local authority for the towns of Bebington and Bromborough. New Ferry and Port Sunlight were also within its boundaries. The district also inclu ...

. Further changes occurred on 1 April 1974, when local government reorganisation resulted in most of Wirral, including Thornton Hough, being transferred from Cheshire to the newly formed county of

. As of , Thornton Hough is within the Clatterbridge Ward of the

. The village is represented nationally through the parliamentary constituency of

Community

The Stores and Wilshaw Terrace, Thornton Hough

Thornton Hough Scarecrow Festival 2005 (6)

Thornton Hough's central feature is the

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

with its cricket pitch and pavilion, tennis courts, and a children's play area. The local

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

is Thornton Hough Primary School located on St George's Way and is the catchment school for children living in Thornton Hough, Raby Mere, Raby and

. This school building was originally built to serve as a military building, but was turned over for school usage after the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

. The original playground has been reduced in size due to the building extensions of decking and garden areas. The Parish Hall was the original village school until it closed in 1953, it has a Victorian exterior, although its interior has been updated. The Village Hall is a large extension to the original wooden hall belonging to St George's Church and was built in the 1970s by Collins Construction. It is referred to as the New Village Hall to set it apart from the Parish Hall which is used for the fortnightly youth club. Since it opened, the hall has been used for a variety of local events and as a venue for parties. The hall is used by the badminton club, play-school, Cubs,

Scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

Rainbows A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows ca ...

, Brownies and

Guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

. The village has a number of shops and a post office next to which is the British Legion, known as "the Men's Club" as women were barred except for on two days per year. The Village Stores struggled to compete with the bigger and cheaper supermarkets before its closure in 2007. It is now Jennifer O'Neill Cakes and Dragonfly Couture Stationery, 'The Seven Stars', is a traditional public house established in the 1840s on what was once a

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

route between

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 ...

and Neston. In 1905 the smithy moved from its original site into a

half timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

building and was extant in 2009. Just outside the village is 'The Red Fox', a public house and restaurant on the border of Thornton Hough and Neston.

Culture

The Thornton Hough

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

Festival was held between 1999 and 2006. Residents participating made scarecrows of varying designs and quality, which were judged at the end of a week-long open season. The festival also included a

fête In Britain and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public festivals, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments. Village fêtes Village f� ...

on the village green. By 2006, when the festival attracted over 35,000 visitors, it had raised £75,000 for village projects. In 2017 the village green was used as a location for the film

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...

Notable people

William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools ...

, industrialist, lived at Thornton Manor *

William Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme, DL (25 March 1888 – 27 May 1949), was the son of William Hesketh Lever and Elizabeth Ellen, daughter of Crompton Hulme of Bolton. He was educated at Eton College and graduated from Cambridge Un ...

, co-founder of

, born and raised in Thornton Hough

Gallery

File:Benkid77 Thornton Hough 1 240709.JPG, The village green File:The Seven Stars, Thornton Hough 240709.JPG, The Seven Stars public house File:Parish Hall, Thornton Hough.jpg, The Parish Hall File:Thornton Hough War Memorial 2.jpg, The War Memorial File:Thornton Manor.jpeg, An open day at Thornton Manor in 2005 File:Punch and Judy Thornton Hough.jpg, A

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character w ...

show on the village green

References

Bibliography

External links

All Saints Church, Thornton Hough
{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral