| Hill Bark | |
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Hill Bark from the northeast
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| Location: | Frankby, Wirral, England |
| OS grid reference: | SJ 244 858 |
| Built: | 1891 |
| Built for: | Robert William Hudson |
| Rebuilt: | 1928–31 |
| Restored by: | Rees & Holt |
| Architect: | Grayson & Ould |
| Architectural style(s): | Vernacular |
| Governing body: | Hillbank Hotel |
| Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Designated: | 5 June 1963 |
| Reference #: | 1242748 |
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Location in Merseyside
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Hill Bark is a large country house to the south of the hamlet of Frankby, Wirral, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1] The authors of the Buildings of England series comment that it is "one of the most notable Victorian essays in half-timbered design anywhere in the country".[2]
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The house was originally built in 1891 for the soap manufacturer Robert William Hudson on Bidston Hill, Birkenhead.[3] It was designed by the Liverpool architectural firm of George Enoch Grayson and Edward A. L. Ould (probably by Ould), and was then known as Bidston Court.[2] In 1921 the house was sold to Sir Ernest Royden, and he arranged for the house to be dismantled and rebuilt on the present site between 1928 and 1931.[3] This work was supervised by the architectural firm of Rees and Holt.[2] In 2001 the house was being used as an old people's home,[1] and later in the 2000s it was converted into a hotel.[4]
The house is built on a U-plan. It is constructed in timber framing on a stone base, and has stone and brick chimney stacks and a slate roof. There are multiple gables and the half-timber exterior framing is highly decorated. Internally there is a great hall with an organ gallery and an open roof.[1] In the great hall is a Jacobean fireplace dated 1527, said to have come from a house of Sir Walter Raleigh, stained glass windows by William Morris, and a pair of church screen doors dating from the 13th century. In a room now used as a restaurant is a fire surround dated 1795 and designed by Robert Adam.[3]
It has been claimed that Bidston Court so impressed Crown Prinz Wilhelm of Germany that he built a copy of it in Potsdam.[3] However the authors of the Buildings of England series point out that this is untrue, and that the house in Potsdam was only vaguely inspired by Bidston Court.[2]
The house is now used as a hotel, and is known as Hillbark Hotel. It is licensed for weddings, and offers facilities for conferences.[4] Most recently was used for the Juice FM Style Awards which was filmed and featured in reality TV Show Desperate Scouse Wives on November 29th on E4.[5]