Tirley Garth
| Tirley Garth | |
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Tirley Garth from one of the gardens
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| Location | Tarporley, Cheshire, England |
| Coordinates | 53°11′29″N 2°40′55″W / 53.1913°N 2.6820°WCoordinates: 53°11′29″N 2°40′55″W / 53.1913°N 2.6820°W |
| OS grid reference | SJ 545 662 |
| Built | 1907 |
| Built for | Bryan Leesmith |
| Architect | C. E. Mallows |
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Listed Building – Grade II*
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| Designated | 8 November 1985 |
| Reference no. | 1330306 |
 Location in Cheshire
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Tirley Garth is a large country house some 2.5 miles (4 km) to the north of Tarporley, Cheshire, England. The house together with its entrance courtyard walls are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
The building of the house began in 1907 for Bryan Leesmith, a director of the chemical firm of Brunner Mond, the architect being C. E. Mallows. Before it was completed, Leesmith had to sell the house and its ownership passed to Brunner Mond. It was then leased to Richard Henry Prestwich, who was a director of Burberry’s. Prestwich’s daughter, Irene, continued to rent the property after her father’s death in 1940. Irene was a member of the campaign for Moral Re-Armament (MRA) and in 1940 she invited the organisation to move here to shelter from the war. In November 1940 36 incendiary bombs fell in the garden and one on the house. During the war the gardens were used for growing produce which was taken to the local markets. After the war Irene bought the house and grounds from Imperial Chemical Industries, the successors of Brunner Mond, and presented it to MRA, establishing the Tirley Garth Trust in order to preserve it. Irene Prestwich died in 1974. In 2002, as the house and grounds were surplus to the requirements of MRA, they were sold to Mersey Television.
Tirley Garth is built in pebble-dashed brick with buff sandstone dressings, a York stone-slate roof and tall pebble-dashed chimneys. It is designed in the Art and Crafts style. The word “garth” in its name derives from the house being built around an internal courtyard. On all sides of the courtyard are stone cloisters with three arches on each side and in its centre is a sunken circular pool reached by curved steps. The living quarters are on the south, west and east sides. The south front, with views towards the Beeston and Peckforton Hills, is the main front. It is symmetrical with five bays, all of which are gabled. The central bay has a large semicircular projection in two storeys with an eleven-light mullioned and transomed window behind which is the great hall. Above this is a five-light window. The end bays have canted two-storey projections with four-light windows above them. The west front is the entrance front. It has eight bays, is mainly in two storeys, and has a three-storey tower to the right. Internally there are many architectural details with some fine wood-carving, and tiles which are unique to the house.
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