NOOKS and CORNERS
THE devastating fire that ripped through Liverpool’s Woolton Hall last month could bring a sad end to a long tale of neglect by owners and inaction by authorities.
The fire is suspected to be arson, with one teenager arrested so far. There had been reports of youngsters hanging around the ill-secured site, which like many overgrown spaces this summer, was a tinderbox.
Grade 1-listed Woolton Hall, built in 1704 and later enlarged and re-fronted by Robert Adam in the 1770s, was threatened with demolition in the 1980s, but was saved by a local businessman. Following its restoration, the building was given its top-level listing.
Closed in 2006, plans for alternative uses by current owner, Jim Murray, have never come to fruition. When local press asked in 2021 what had happened to his scheme for a retirement village, including extra developments to pay for repairs to the hall, Murray didn’t reply. Progress wasn’t helped by his business partner, Abid Chudary, who was stripped of his registration as a care home provider after issues at two homes he ran. He didn’t help matters when he lambasted Liverpool’s planning officials as “lazy bastards” for what he saw as a lack of progress.