Port Sunlight Village, Wirral

In 1887 William Hesketh Lever, a successful soap manufacturer, began looking for a new site for his factory as his business had outgrown its original premises in Warrington. The site needed to be near to a river for importing raw materials, and a railway line for transporting the finished products. The marshy, uninspiring ground that he discovered was eventually to be transformed into the village of Port Sunlight, which was named after his famous soap.

Lady Lever Art Gallery


Port Sunlight houses


Port Sunlight is a garden village which was founded in 1888 by Lever to house his soap factory workers. In line with his ideas on prosperity-sharing, the building maintenance and upkeep of the village was subsidised with a portion of the profits from Lever Brothers Limited. With his own money, Lever financed the church, technical institute and the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Lever took great pleasure in helping to plan this picturesque garden village and he employed nearly thirty different architects to create its unique style.

Sue at the church


Port Sunlight contains 900 Grade II listed buildings, and was declared a Conservation Area in 1978

War Memorial

Garden of Remembrance