Houses, Mount Wood Conservation Area, Prenton, Wirral
At Prenton are to be found some of the best examples of early 20th century domestic architecture on Merseyside, the summit of Prenton Hill forming an attractive Edwardian suburb set in pine woodland on a sandstone ridge extending across the Wirral from Prenton Ridge at Mountwood to Noctorum Ridge. Some of the best individually designed houses are by Sir Arnold Thornely of Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely designed in an Arts and Crafts style and mostly built in the period 1908-1910. None appear to be listed, even locally.
1908 Picardy, (Tower Lodge) 4, Tower Road, Prenton
Brick and timber gabled frontage with sundial. Appears to have been re-named
Reference Pevsner and Hubbard, Buildings of England page 102
c.1908 The White House, 10 Burrell Road, Prenton
Architect Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely
One of a group of Edwardian houses on the north side of Burrell Road. Painted brick throughout; slate roof with flat-roofed dormers; tall chimneys; small leaded casement windows. "A neat rectangle of painted brick, with gable ends. Three oriels on the first floor". [Hubbard, E. Architectural Notes]
1909 The Manor House, Mount Wood Road, Prenton
Architect Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely
"The largest of the Prenton houses. Rendered walls with some stone dressings and half-timber work.
L-shaped plan, with good entrance front, the wings forming two sides of a court. Inside, much oak work in which several styles and 'period' details are mixed. Two-storey hall with high mullioned bay and a gallery on timber-posts, beyond which rises a quite richly detailed staircase. The influence of Baillie Scott …here seems apparent". [Hubbard, E.: Architectural Notes]
The property is almost totally concealed from the road. Name plates imply that it has been subdivided into at least two properties. Originally the residence of Edwin Robinson.
1910 Pine Ridge, 24 Pine Walks, Prenton
Architect Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely
A well-hidden property, at the junction of Mount Wood Road and Pine Walks.
Brick throughout; extensive gardens. "Exposed brick. Gabled and irregular, though no less neatly composed". Hubbard
c. 1910 Birch Howe, 22 Pine Walks, Prenton
Architect Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely
Hubbard notes: "Another neat rectangle of painted brick. Hipped roof and some timberwork".
Tall chimneys; slate roof. Voysey influence.
1910 Pine Grove, 11 Mount Wood Road, Prenton
Architect Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely
A wide frontage with central entrance. The roof has deep eaves and a centrally placed dormer.
Painted brick throughout, slate roof. "A large painted brick rectangle, with hipped roof and carefully designed frontage. Triple arcaded entrance". [Hubbard, E. Architectural Notes]
Reference Pevsner / Hubbard Buildings of England - Cheshire 1971 page 101
1923 West Hill, Golf Links Road, Prenton
Architect Briggs, and Thornely
Garden Gertrude Jekyll
House reconstructed after WWII bomb damage on 2 May 1941. Painted render throughout; slate roof; small-paned windows.
1927 Pine Folly, 9 Mount Wood Road, Prenton
Architect Arnold Thornely
Reference Sales literature only
A substantial six bedroom detached residence designed by Sir Arnold Thornely and built in 1927 for Cheshire’s County Engineer. Arranged over three stories, the ground floor retains the original maple and oak-floored reception rooms and an oak Arts and Crafts staircase. The first floor contains five bedrooms and two bathrooms while the sixth bedroom is on the third storey of the house alongside a storage room.
1919 War Memorial, Prenton Lane, Prenton
The War Memorial on Prenton Lane (1919) was also designed by Briggs Wolstenholme & Thornley, although Pevsner and Hubbard considered it “an unfortunate design”!
Reference Pevsner / Hubbard Buildings of England - Cheshire 1971 page 101-102
Reference Donald Insall Associates; Mount Wood Conservation Area Appraisal 2005
Reference Mount Wood Conservation Area Appendix F. Gazetteer of Photographs by Road