A History of Port Sunlight

William Hesketh Lever, the 'soap king', was a Bolton-born industrialist, philanthropist and politician who later would become a Wirral MP. As a partner in his father's wholesale grocery business in Bolton, and following apprenticeships and a series of appointments, in 1884 William cleverly thought of selling soap not by its weight, but to cut it into small pieces that were individually wrapped. So successful did he become with this speciality of selling soap within the family business, that he set up on his own with his brother, James Darcy Lever, and in 1886 they established Lever Brothers. Within 12 months they trademarked 'Sunlight', which was one of the first soaps to be manufactured from vegetable oils and a house style that was later applied to a range of soaps. Their first factory was in Warrington, but the company soon found they were starting to outgrow this site so, as business boomed, new locations were sought and they settled on a location near Bromborough on the Wirral.

William decided to purchase 56 acres of land in Wirral, although the site was a mass of marshy ground. However, it had what he needed for his factory; it was near a potential source of labour in Birkenhead, and had facilities for road, rail and water transport. The area was accessible by the Bromborough Pool which like the Liver Pool, was an inlet up which boats could come and deliver raw materials for the factory, which was to be built at the head. Flowing into the Bromborough Pool were three streams, which flowed north east, coming together to travel south east before discharging into the Pool. There were a handful of slum dwellings in the north west corner of the site and a cement works and it is also understood that the Mayor of Bromborough once lived in a house that was eventually included in the demolition to make way for the expanding village ( but long after he'd left). 

William Owen (who remained an important friend, colleague and architect in Lever's life) designed the first cottages on the site, at the junction of Bolton Road and Greendale Road. Building work commenced in 1888 as William Lever built Port Sunlight to house the workers at his soap factory Lever Brothers, which eventually became the global giant Unilever. The village represents one man's vision to provide industrial workers with decent, sanitary housing in a considered architectural and picturesque form. He was part of the Garden Suburb movement that prioritised the importance of space between buildings and access to gardens and open spaces. Soon after the village was begun, George Cadbury in 1893 bought 120 acres of land near Birmingham for the future Bournville model village, heavily inspired by his contemporary in Cheshire. Port Sunlight though was by no means the first model industrial village, Robert Owen’s New Lanark on the River Clyde in Scotland was developed from 1800, and Sir Titus Salt's village of Saltaire from 1851. Indeed, Price's Patent Candle Company based in London, owned by the Wilson family, was already flourishing when in 1853 it purchased land for a new works on the tidal inlet of Bromborough Pool. The village the Wilsons built for their workers, many of whom had moved up from London, is an early example of a model industrial village, predating Port Sunlight by over three decades. (The Candleworks went on to become Price’s Chemicals, then Unichema.).

However at Port Sunlight, these ideas combined with provision of green spaces, parkland, and public buildings were the key influence on the Garden City Movement. As well as providing good quality housing, schools and a cottage hospital, he planned Port Sunlight to encourage participation in sports and other outdoor recreation. In terms of design, he personally supervised the planning of the village as he didn't want all the houses and spaces to look the same, so employed 30 different architects to work on the project. Between 1899 and 1914, 800 houses were built to house a population of 3,500. Along with the new housing and factories, the amenities at Port Sunlight included a gymnasium, swimming pool, football ground and tennis court, as well as extensive park areas for people to enjoy and get some fresh air, and allotments for growing fresh, healthy food. He introduced welfare schemes, and provided for the education and entertainment of his workforce, encouraging recreation and organisations which promoted art, literature, science or music. Besides a cottage hospital and schools, the village also included a concert hall, an open air swimming pool, a church, a temperance hotel and last but not least, the Lady Lever Art Gallery. William, a keen art collector who travelled all over the world, liked to show the villagers the art he collected. So it was the Art Gallery was opened in 1922 by Princess Beatrice and shows Lever's collection and modern-day artwork. The collection includes a range of furniture, paintings, sculptures and ceramics.

However, rather than a philanthropic venture, Lord Leverhulme claimed it was all part of a business model he termed 'prosperity-sharing'. Rather than sharing the profits of the company directly with his employees, Lever provided them with decent and affordable houses, amenities and welfare provisions that made their lives secure and comfortable and enabled them to flourish as people. It was also intended to inspire loyalty and commitment. As he said, "It would not do you much good if you send it down your throats in the form of bottles of whisky, bags of sweets, or fat geese at Christmas. On the other hand, if you leave the money with me, I shall use it to provide for you everything that makes life pleasant – nice houses, comfortable homes, and healthy recreation." During the Second World War much ground in the village was devoted to food production.

William was created a baronet in December 1911, raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as the 1st Baron Leverhulme in June 1917, and was further advanced to being The 1st Viscount Leverhulme in December 1922. He died of pneumonia at 73 at his home in Hampstead on the 7th of May 1925 with his funeral attended by 30,000 people before being buried in the churchyard of Christ Church in Port Sunlight. Both William and his wife are buried in a narthex attached to the back of the Church. Port Sunlight contains a wealth of outstanding public buildings, most of which are Grade II listed. In the south east corner of the site, Gladstone Hall (1891) was the first principal building in the village, and was opened for use as a men's dining room by the statesman W. E. Gladstone. Also The Lyceum (1896) on Park Road; Hesketh Hall (1903) on Boundary Road. Also Hulme Hall on Bolton Road, built in 1901 as a women's dining hall, became an art gallery in 1911, and was memorably the venue for Ringo Starr's first performance as a Beatle following the sacking of Pete Best. On the opposite side of Wood Street is Lever House (1896), the main entrance to the offices of Lever Brothers, now Unilever.

Sir William Goscombe John, a friend of Lever, designed and scupltured the Port Sunlight War Memorial (1921) which sits at the intersection of The Causeway and The Diamond. The theme for the sculpture, which has been awarded Grade I listed status, was 'Defence of the Realm' which John expressed in strong narrative detail with the soldiers depicted, guns raised, defending the women and children behind from an impending imaginary invasion, in a powerful and melodramatic tableau.
In 1999 management of the village was passed to The Port Sunlight Village Trust, set up with the primary objective of preserving and maintaining the land and buildings within the Conservation Area of Port Sunlight.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/05/a-history-of-cammell-laird.html