Beaconsfield House, Beaconsfield Road, Woolton

Image: © Sue Adair Taken: 27 Oct 2005

There is an interesting history to this building. Prior to 1805, Woolton Hill was common land where people grazed their animals, Gateacre Brow and Beaconsfield Rd were no more than a track over this hill. The 1805 Enclosure Act allowed plots of land on the common to be reallocated, the local gentry and wealthy merchants acquiring the best plots. Joshua, son of Ambrose Lace, merchant and ship-owner of St. Paul's Square, Liverpool was allocated plot 11. Joshua Lace (1762-1841) was an Attorney-at-Law, founder and first president of the Liverpool Law Society (1827). In 1833 the deed, by which Joshua gave for 5 shillings, the site of just under 5 acres to his solicitor son Ambrose. The younger Ambrose Lace was born at Throstle Nest, Belle Vale Rd in 1792 and built Beaconsfield in 1833, with its many chimneys and prospect tower, one of the grandest houses in Woolton. It is assumed that Ambrose called the house and access road "Beaconsfield" due to its proximity to the beacon on Woolton Hill. Ambrose also bought the adjoining site of 2¼ acres in 1847 and built two cottages as his new entrance lodge. They still exist today as Grade 2 listed buildings, Numbers 35 and 37 Beaconsfield Road. He died in 1870 aged 77. Beaconsfield was demolished in 1933. This coachman's cottage is the only original building of 1833 surviving today.

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