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Port Sunlight

a record of its artistic & pictorial aspect

Davison, Thomas Raffles

PORT SUNLIGHT

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Illustrations.

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The Illustrations.

The full-page Plates 3 to 27 give an idea of the road views
and the relation of the houses to them, with their perspective

effects in straight or winding lines of frontage, with quadrangular
recesses as in Pls. 11 and 20, or where the L-shaped blocks of
cottages leave a good open space as in Pl. 9. The sturdy tower
of Christ Church is a telling feature at the end of the Causeway (see
Pl. 13), and the picturesque pavilion roof with its clever tiling
makes a telling feature at the junction of the Causeway with Greendale
Road. It is hard to imagine anything more delightful in the
early spring or autumn than the Greendale Road where it approaches
the post office, with the peeps of the buildings through the tall
poplars. The view towards the post office in both directions

37. THE GIRLS' CLUB.

J. L. SIMPSON,

Architect.

(Pls. 3 and 7) are
equally pleasing. Nothing
shows better the
good qualities of an
Old English half-timber
building than
such a setting. There
is hardly anything in
the village which comes
back on one with such
recurring charm as the
row of five gables in
the Park Road cottages
shown in Pls. 5 and 14. In Pl. 5 we see something of the
delightful result of the continuous sloping banks from the
road up to the cottage, and a certain picturesque irregularity
where the old hawthorn bushes which formerly existed have been
left at intervals. This vertical timber framing has a simple
breadth of effect which is well shown in Pls. 4, 5, and 14. It
would be difficult to do justice to Greendale Road with its continuous
line of 97 cottages, which form a picture of great variety
and interest as viewed from the passing trains, and give us a long
perspective of trees and houses, broken at the point of view of
our sketch (Pl. 15) by the half-timber group of cottages which is
an exact replica of the design of Kenyon Old Hall. This delightful

group is also shown in Pl. 20. There is nothing more satisfactory
in proportion and colour than the recessed group of cottages
which fronts the Diamond in the Queen Mary's Drive. The yellow-grey
stone slates, the red brick chimneys, the white rough cast, dark
boarding, and robust half-timber work in the flanking gables, make
up a picture of colour and texture which is most satisfactory (Pl. 2).
The cottages here have the advantage of a raised terrace bounded
by a stone wall. One of the nearest approaches to the charm of an
old English village is probably the L-shaped group of cottages in
Bath Street (see Pl. 9). A photograph of the Dell has been taken
to show one of the natural features which has been turned to so
good an account in the village (see Pl. 10). The cottages looking
over the roadways surrounding the Dell have delightful outlooks
over here. Our view was taken in the winter, so as to show something
of the bridge and houses. The stone bridge at the end of the
Dell is an excellent architectural feature (see Nos. 1 and 2), and
groups with remarkably good result below the Lyceum buildings.

No illustrative account of Port Sunlight could be considered
complete without some reference to Christ Church, which is a central
and interesting feature. Its solidly built red stone walls and stone
slated roof, and its finely appointed interior with a wealth of enriched
oak timber work, commands one's attention whether as architect or
layman. It speaks of strength and endurance and a sincere love and
study of our traditional English Gothic. Its value is sufficiently
apparent both from the social and the artistic point of view. In one
respect, however, this church may claim a special distinction, for at
its western end has been erected a richly detailed narthex, with a
vaulted roof, forming a shrine for a beautiful sculptured memorial
to the late Lady Lever. Both in idea and execution, this forms a
striking and touching memorial to a gracious lady whose kindliness
of heart endeared her to all. Children were her special friends, and
this is reflected in the two charming figures of children at one end
of the sarcophagus. Sir Goscombe John, the sculptor, has never
been more successful than in this tenderly and gracefully modelled
reclining figure of Lady Lever. This vaulted porch, with its richly

carved bosses (on one of which are painted the arms of Sir William),
largely enhances the value of the memorial sarcophagus itself, which
is one of the most satisfactory of recent years. The illustration of
the interior (see Pl. 33) is from a large drawing exhibited by the
architect at the Royal Academy in 1916.

Our illustrations, in a general way, represent what may be taken
to be the best examples of design in the village. They do not, of
course, show all the best. In Pl. 28 we have a very good example
of the quality of detail which lifts the work at Port Sunlight so far
above the level of the ordinary speculative cottage building. Here
we find carved oak beams and posts and brackets and barges, and an
excellent piece of modelled plaster work in the gable. When it is
remembered that this is no isolated example, we see how unusually
liberal has been the hand that directed the outlay. Corners like the
picturesque grouping of chimneys in No. 28, or the carved oak and
modelled plaster in the corner gable (No. 9), would not have
existed in an industrial village had not the founder been imbued
with a keen appreciation of architectural values. One would present
a sketch proposal for such a type of cottages with some trepidation
to the average building owner! One of the noticeable bits of rich
detail is to be found in the Flamboyant and Gothic dormers in Pl.
27. We have in No. 32 a delightful corner of half-timber building
with a sweet little garden foreground. The old Cheshire type of
half-timber work is tellingly expressed in the corner houses in Park
Road (Pl. 16). Other especially effective corners are seen in Nos.
11 and 27. A contrast between Queen Anne brick gables and the
half-timber house is effectively shown in No. 21. Contrasting again
with the richness of carved oak and modelled plaster in the more
elaborate buildings, we come across delightfully simple designs, such
as Nos. 15 and 17, which may some day very well pass for ancient
buildings.

Amongst the conspicuously successful of recent groups is that of
the parlour houses in Bolton Road (Pl. 21), which has the advantage
of a good setting on the front of a circular place. This only
needs a terrace wall and some formal planting to make it one of the

pictures of the village. What an enticing prospect opens up in the
possibilities of formal evergreen planting amongst all these cottage
homes!

It is with some feeling of regret that more sketches have not
been given showing examples of interesting ornamental detail
which lift the quality of these cottage homes so much above the
ordinary level of industrial homes. But the limits of the volume
place an inevitable check on one's desires. If the author has been
able to convey to his readers a tithe of the pleasure he has felt in
the subject of this little book he will be amply rewarded.

38. AN EXAMPLE OF SIMPLE TREATMENT.

Enough has perhaps been said in appreciation of some points
which mark out the qualities of Port Sunlight. Much more might
be written, but for the rest we leave the illustrations to tell their
own tale. We have shown nothing of the great auditorium which
seats 3,000 people, or of the detailed appointments of the new Art
Gallery, but we have a sketch of the splendid open air swimming
pool and our birds-eye view of the Diamond gives some notion of
the pleasant grouping of the homes amongst pleasant open spaces
and tree-lined avenues. A great deal of what we do not show is left
in reserve for those who can find opportunity to go and see for themselves
what this wonderful scheme of industrial housing can teach.