Port Sunlight, Merseyside
The Town
On the western side of the River Mersey, and the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula, our property buying agent will delight in showing you the wide boulevards of Port Sunlight, with charming and unique cottages to tempt any property buyer. Our property search company can give you latest estimates for annual numbers of visitors, which is around 300,000. Our real estate buyers agent can confirm the resident population is around 2,000.
Our buyers agents will tell you each house is unique. Our property buying agent can also confirm, a different architect designed every block of houses. If you’re a property buyer interested in architectural features, our Recoco property finder can draw your attention to carved woodwork and masonry, half-timbering, leaded glazed patterns, moulded and twisted chimneys, and ornamental plasterwork known as pargetting.
Transport
Our Recoco property finder can outline the transport links to Port Sunlight, which are good. It lies on the A41 road, with the nearest motorway the M53. Our real estate buyers agent can confirm both Port Sunlight and Bebington railway stations serve the village, on the Merseyrail network Wirral Line. Or ask our property search company about regular train services to Liverpool via Birkenhead and to Chester and Ellesmere Port. There is also excellent parking at Port Sunlight.
History
Port Sunlight owes its existence to philanthropist ‘soap king’ William Lever, born in Bolton and later a Wirral MP. With his brother James, he established Lever Brothers in 1886. Our Recoco property finder can confirm they made the first mass-produced soaps from vegetable oils. Our property search company can tell you Port Sunlight was built to provide accommodation for the factory workers. Ask our real estate buyers agent about how the Arts and Crafts Movement influenced the layout. Port Sunlight was declared a conservation area in 1978 and our Recoco buying agent can confirm it incorporates 900 Grade II listed buildings. If you’re keen on a property search in the area, our buyers agents can confirm houses in the village were first sold privately in the 1980s.
Education
The small primary school is opposite the United Reformed Church; the school is open to village residents and those who live outside the village. Our property buying agent can supply more details.
Leisure and Events
The Lord Lever Art Gallery is one of the most attractive buildings and includes a range of ceramics, furniture, paintings, and sculptures collected by Lord Lever on his travels. The open-air swimming pool is now a garden centre with a café, and the cottage hospital is now the Leverhulme Hotel.
Or ask our Recoco buying agent about the Gladstone Theatre, which hosts productions by local amateur dramatic groups. Buyers agents might also mention the Lyceum and Hesketh Hall.
From the Port Sunlight River Park, a property buyer can get a clear view of Liverpool’s waterfront, with the Albert Dock and Anglican Cathedral. Take a break from your property search with pleasant walks, wildflowers, and wetlands, and seasonal resident wildlife.
Port Sunlight Museum is award-winning; an Edwardian workers’ cottage, lovingly restored, gives an insight into the period. Regular events throughout the year allow visitors and families to explore past and present, and the shop sells souvenirs which include the original Sunlight Soap. In Vinolia, postcards and artwork by local artists offer more insights into the life of the village.
Your Recoco buying agent might mention the charming view of the boating lake from Queen Mary’s Drive, a great way to take time out from your property search. The Art Gallery lies at one end, with a war memorial at the other.
Celebrity Connections
In 1962, Ringo Starr made his official debut with the Beatles as a drummer at Hulme Hall. Journalist and TV presenter Fiona Bruce grew up in Port Sunlight and other well-known names associated with the location include Harold Wilson’s wife Mary; footballer Jim Molyneux; and musician and television personality Pete Burns.
The village has also been used as the backdrop for Tolkien and Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys, and some scenes from TV series Peaky Blinders was also filmed here.
Foodies’ Corner
Feeling peckish? There are cafes in Lady Lever Art Gallery, the Port Sunlight Garden Centre, and the Village Museum; or indulge yourself at the Tudor Rose Tea Rooms or Blooming Skull Coffee. There’s also the Bridge Inn, part of a national chain.
Fun Fact
Lady Lever Art Gallery also houses what is often described as the best collection of Wedgwood jasperware in the world.