Burton Manor came into existence in 1903 when Henry Neville Gladstone had an earlier house, called Burton Hall, enlarged and remodelled into Burton Manor.
Mr Gladstone had bought the hall and estate for £80,000, he was the third son of W E Gladstone, the Liberal Prime Minister. Their money had been made in the negro slave trade and their coat of arms, which is still over the main entrance, contains a severed negro's head dripping blood.
Burton Hall had been built in 1805 by Richard Congreve in what had previously been fields and cottage gardens. The hall was fairly small as country mansions go and was built of brick in an 'L' shape.
Burton Hall (1898)
Burton Hall Drawing Room
Burton Hall Dining RoomThe Gladstones had the old hall encased in sandstone, and the other two sides of the 'L' where completed, forming a square with a courtyard in the centre. On the east side a complex of buildings containing kitchens and servants' quarters was built. It is said that Mrs Gladstone was the driving force behind the upgrading of the 'Hall' to the 'Manor'.
Burton Manor (1904)
Burton Manor Drawing Room
Burton Manor Music RoomBurton was still an estate village at this time, all but one of the villagers worked in or for the estate.
In December 1924, the whole of the Burton estate, including the Manor, was sold to Boult, Son and Maples, a firm of Liverpool estate agents, for £74,000. The estate was broken up and sold off in lots at auction. The Manor itself was difficult to sell, it was bought by Mr Alfred Joynson who never lived in it, instead he let it off to various groups of people.
In 1948 Liverpool City Council, on behalf of a consortium of Local Authorities, took over ownership of the Manor as a residential college of adult education.
Burton Manor (1970)