Description

WIGAN

SD5806SW UPPER DICCONSON STREET
24-1/6/90 (South East side)
05/05/95 No.21

II

End-of-terrace town house. 1877. Brown brick in English garden
wall bond, with slate roof and slated canopy over ground
floor. Double-depth single-fronted plan with back extension.
Simple eclectic style.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attic, cellared throughout, 1:2
windows (forming half of a reflected pair). The ground floor
has a round-headed doorway to the left (coupled with that of
No.23) with moulded stone imposts which have sawtooth
enrichment, a dentilled lintel, panelled keystone and wide
door with 6 bolection-moulded panels; a canted bay window with
sawtooth enrichment to the lintels, and a continuous
monopitched slate canopy (carried across No.23 also). The 1st
floor has a round-headed window above the doorway and a pair
of segmental-headed windows to the right, all in raised brick
surrounds with moulded imposts and panelled keystones, and
linked by a sillband (also carried across No.23). All the
windows are sashed without glazing bars. Oversailing eaves
with pendent wooden ornament. Gable chimney.
INTERIOR: unusually complete survival of original features and
fittings as follows: internal porch with square-panelled dado
and embossed wallcovering with sunflower motif, stained and
painted glazed screen with roundels of birds and flowers, and
a border of yellow leaves and flowers; hall with "Aesthetic
Movement" embossed dado including fishes, lilies and
butterflies, upper border of birds, cornice with egg-and-dart
and modillion enrichment; front parlour with Adam-style
moulded plaster frieze, panelled ceiling, column to right of
window apparently for air-conditioning, fireplace with heavy
surround of grey marble and grate with decorated hood,
panelled door with embossed decoration on inner side; dining
room with dado of embossed rectangular panels, marble
fireplace (now painted) with copper hood to grate, door like
that to parlour; staircase with dado continued from hall, and
cast-iron balusters continued along landing and up to attic;
full-width 1st-floor drawing room with arched white marble
fireplace; similar fireplace in middle bedroom; bathroom with
wooden panelled dado (part missing); 2-room attic; complete
suite of 5 cellar rooms, with ducting which appears to have
been related to air-conditioning system.
HISTORY: occupied from 1877 to 1884 by WH Lever, subsequently
Viscount Leverhulme, founder of soap-manufacturing empire, at
the time when he was founding his business in Wigan. The
interior decoration and fittings of this house are early
evidence of the artistic interests of Lord and Lady
Leverhulme, and of the earliest origins of the Lady Lever
Collection. [References: "Viscount Leverhulme by his son";
Edward Morris "Art and Business in Edwardian England: the
Making of the Lady Lever Art Gallery"; C.R.Grundy and
S.L.Davison "Illustrated Guide to the Lady Lever Collection";
Elizabeth Aslin "The Aesthetic Movement".]
(Viscount Leverhulme by his son; Morris Edward: Art & Business
in Edwardian England...the Lady Lever Art Gallery; Grundy CR &
Davison L: Illustrated Guide to the Lady Lever Collection;
Aslin Elizabeth: The Aesthetic Movement).

Listing NGR: SD5835006213

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26664368

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)