|
|
|
Lying
at the heart of rural Wirral, Thornton Hough as it appears today
is principally due to the efforts of two philanthropic landlords:
Joseph Hirst, a textile manufacturer from Huddersfield, and William
Hesketh Lever, who later became Lord Leverhulme, founder of Lever
Brothers at Port Sunlight.
Described as Torintone at the time of the Domesday Book, the village's
present name was established when the only daughter of Roger de
Thorneton, the local landowner, married Richard de Hoghe during
the reign of Edward II. By the beginning of the 19th Century, Thornton
Hough with a population of just 165, formed part of the great Neston
Estate owned by Baron Mostyn of Mostyn in Flint. Broken up into
separate lots, the village and surrounding land was sold at auction
in 1849. Through marriage, a large area of land on the east side
of the village eventually came into the ownership of Joseph Hirst
who had already rebuilt much of his own village at Wilshaw in West
Yorkshire.
Between 1866 and 1870, Hirst was responsible for the building of
All Saints Church, the adjoining vicarage, the first school, and
the row of cottages behind the church known as Wilshaw Terrace.
He lived in nearby Thornton House and died at Wilshaw in 1875.
NEXT PAGE
|
|
|
