W NEWS
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PORT SUNLIGHT SINGLED OUT BY
HISTORIC ENGLAND FOR ITS IMPACT
ON THE COUNTRY AND THE WIDER WORLD
Port Sunlight village has secured a place on Historic
England’s prestigious campaign Irreplaceable – a History of
England in 100 Places.
The campaign aims to create, with the public’s help, a list of 100
places, buildings and historical sites that tell the remarkable
story of England and its impact on the world. It is divided into
ten different categories including Homes and Gardens, Science
and Discovery and Faith and Belief, which are all judged by an
expert, from Mary Beard to Professor Robert Winston.
Port Sunlight was nominated by the public in Historic
England’s Homes and Gardens category.
The Wirral village was included in the shortlist provided to
expert judge, architect, TV presenter, lecturer and writer
George Clark who then selected it to be one of the final ten
places in his category.
All ten places picked by George will be explored in new
episodes of Historic England’s recently launched podcast series.
“It is also testament to the people past and present who
have worked hard to maintain the delicate balance between
preserving the rich heritage of the village and making it a great
place to visit, while ensuring it continues to be a vibrant place
in which to live.”
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said:
“The history of our homes and gardens is the story of how
we and our ancestors lived and George Clarke has chosen ten
fascinating places in this category.
“Port Sunlight fully deserves to be in the top ten because it
marks a time when providing better living conditions for
workers was considered paramount. Alongside the other sites,
from the earliest form of social housing, to the home of our
monarch and even to brutalist streets in the sky which took
people away from the degradation of the slums, these ten
places play an important role in telling the social history of
England.”
Historic England says the sites chosen are ‘hotbeds of invention
and creativity.’ With a spread across the country, they have
helped shape both our nation and the world beyond. Founded by soap entrepreneur William Hesketh Lever in 1888,
Port Sunlight was built to house Sunlight soap factory workers.
Today it is home to an award-winning Arts Council-accredited
museum, shop, café, world renowned art gallery, parklands and
a successful events and education programme.
Paul Harris, Chief Executive of Port Sunlight Village Trust,
said: “To be included in Historic England’s ‘History of England
in 100 Places’ is a tremendous honour as it recognises the
important role Port Sunlight has played in the social, culture
and architectural shaping of our nation and the wider world. Visitors can also get a glimpse of life as a soap factory worker
following the restoration of a worker’s cottage, using original
architects’ plans and period artefacts. The cottage has been
restored to look how it would have done when home to its first
residents in 1913.
20 wirrallife.com