Part 1

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PORT SUNLIGHT

PREFACE.

Everyone has heard of Port Sunlight, but it is doubtful whether many have formed a definite or just estimate of this unique example of industrial housing. The following pages are an attempt to record its best features and to show how far the ideal which inspired it has succeeded. To those who have not seen it Port Sunlight is perhaps regarded as one of many other similar places. It is in reality something very different from all others, and especially does it stand by itself in the motive which founded it, which has carried it out, and which continues to administrate it. The breadth of vision which has made Port Sunlight possible is perhaps a greater matter than the village itself. This must inevitably have its effect, but the author ventures to predict that the artistic aspect of the place, which receives some permanent record herein, may also obtain full recognition and emulation as time goes on.

Those who look for finality in any human accomplishment are doomed to disappointment, but the measure of our success will surely be in proportion to the quality of our aims. The last and best word we can say about the village of Port Sunlight is that the aim of its founder has been based on the belief that sympathy for the wants and well-being of our fellow-men may find a large expression even in our business dealings.

It is very delightful to contemplate the results of an undertaking like Port Sunlight—a beneficent enterprise which no law could force from any public body or private employer, and which no mere compiler of accounts for capital and interest would dare to sanction. The ideal which prompted it is the real thing that matters, and though it may be maintained that the carrying out of it pays—and pays well—we may still hold fast to the hope that both those who make such villages and those who live in them will ever cherish some beliefs which are above and beyond all that which is concerned with a mere monetary return. How fortunate the workpeople who are enabled to live under such ideal conditions!

This little book is entirely due to the desire of the author himself to illustrate the results of an enterprise which he has closely followed from its inception. The combination of the practical and the artistic has been achieved in Port Sunlight with outstanding success, and in these pages it is believed that this is fairly shown, though the building record is not yet by any means complete.

It would be the merest affectation to leave out of these pages any mention of the founder, Sir William Hesketh Lever, Bart., one of the leaders of industrial enterprise in this country. Amongst the many things he has done for the benefit of his fellow-countrymen there is surely nothing we have more to thank him for than the homes which are the subject of this book. To provide employment for thousands and then to give them such homes to live in must be a good reward for a life’s work to the man with an ideal.

My thanks are due to Mr. Herbert Batsford, the head of his firm, who has not only superintended every detail connected with the production but has added personal interest and advice due to his special sympathy with the subject. To Mr. Alex. Paul, of the Editorial and Social Department, Port Sunlight, I am indebted for much kind help.

The photographic views are largely from the studio of Mr. Geo. W. Davies, New Ferry.

T. RAFFLES DAVISON.

LONDON, _August, 1916_.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PREFACE vii

CONTENTS ix

LIST OF PLATES xi

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS xiii

THE IDEAL 1

THE FOUNDATION 5

THE RESULT 8

CHARACTERISTICS 10

THE PLAN 16

GENERAL SCHEME 20

TREE PLANTING 23

COTTAGE PLANS 25

THE ILLUSTRATIONS 31

LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE ARCHITECTS’ NAMES

1. Birdseye View of Port Sunlight.

2. The Diamond, looking towards Art Gallery.

3. Greendale Road, looking towards Post Office.

4. Westward View of Park Road, showing Kitchen Cottages W. and S. Owen

5. View in Park Road towards the Lyceum W. and S. Owen

6. South Side of Park Road.

7. Greendale Road and Co-Partners’ Club Annexe Grayson and Ould

8. New Chester Road Huon A. Matear

9. Cottages in Bath Street J. J. Talbot

10. The Dell.

11. Semi-Quad of Cottages, Queen Mary’s Drive, The Diamond J. L. Simpson

12. Park Road. Bridge Cottage in Foreground Douglas and Fordham

13. The Causeway, looking towards } Corner Cottage by Christ Church } Grayson and Ould

14. Park Road Cottages. Lyceum in distance W. and S. Owen

15. Greendale Road. Cottage Group in foreground, reproducing Kenyon Old Hall J. J. Talbot

16. Houses in Park Road. South Side W. and S. Owen

17. Lever Free Library, Greendale Road Maxwell and Tuke

18. A Bridge Street Group Grayson and Ould

19. Post Office Grayson and Ould

20. Group of Cottages in Greendale Road, reproducing design of Kenyon Old Hall J. J. Talbot 21. Bolton Road Parlour Houses W. and S. Owen

22. {Primrose Hill Cottages Jonathan Simpson {Greendale Road Cottages Pain and Blease

23. {Greendale Road Cottages Grayson and Ould {Cottage Porch, Connolly Road Huon A. Matear

24. The Bridge Inn Grayson and Ould

25. Co-Partners’ Club Hall Grayson and Ould

26. Open Air Swimming Bath W. and S. Owen

27. A Recessed Group in Cross Street Grayson and Ould

28. Cottage in Wood Street Douglas and Fordham

29. The Library Entrance of the Art Gallery W. and S. Owen

30. S.E. View of Christ Church W. and S. Owen

31. View under Tower, Christ Church W. and S. Owen

32. Lady Lever Memorial Porch, Christ Church W. and S. Owen

{W. and S. Owen 33. The Lady Lever Memorial {Sir W. Goscombe John, { R.A., Sculptor

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS.

NUMBER PAGE

1. The Lyceum 1

2. The Dell Bridge 2

3. Corniche Road before Reclaiming of Ravine 3

4. Pool Bank 3

5. Tennis Lawn 4

6. Christ Church from Bolton Road 4

7. Bolton Road, looking towards Bebington Church 5

8. Co-Partners’ Club and Bowling Green 6

9. Carved Oak and Decorative Plaster Work on Cottage in Park Road South 7

10. Half-timber Cottages in Park Road 8

11. Employees’ Provident Stores and Collegium 9

12. Cottages in Corniche Road 10

13. An Angle Bay in Bridge Street 10

14. Some Park Road Houses 11

15. Cottages in New Chester Road 12

16. Group at angle of Lower Road and Central Road 13

17. A Recessed Group in Greendale Road 14

18. Cottages on semi-circular plan in Lower Road 14

19. First Cottages built at Port Sunlight 15

20. A Three-gabled Group in New Chester Road 15

21. A Picturesque Corner in Park Road South 16

22. Bebington Road Cottages 17

23. Cottages, Pool Bank 18

24. Cottages, Pool Bank 19

25. Hulme Hall 20

26. Gladstone Hall 21

27. Park Road by Poets’ Corner 22

28. Bridge Cottage 23

29. The Gymnasium 24

30. The Technical Institute 25

31. Wood Street Cottages 26

32. A Garden Corner 27

33. Plans of Kitchen Cottages 28

34. Plans of Parlour Cottages 29

35. Plans of Kitchen Cottages 30

36. The Bridge Inn 31

37. The Girls’ Club 32

38. An Example of Simple Treatment 35

39. A General Plan of the Village 36

_The Ideal._

The individual or community which has no ideal is to be pitied. For, whatever may happen, there is always a better chance for those who maintain a high ideal than for those who, without one, adventure themselves against the chances and difficulties that surround us. Nothing is more disheartening to the idealist and reformer than to find not only thousands of individuals but whole communities without a guiding star of faith and hope.

How fortunate is a place like Port Sunlight, when we compare its history and possibilities with those of London! It is pleasant to realise that what has become a problem of such a very serious kind in London after so many years of haphazard and chance, is happily barred out of the horizon in the definitely schemed plan of the garden city or the model village. But it is one thing to have a scheme or an ideal and another to have a good one. Moreover, as to whether it is good or bad, or wholly or only partially good or bad, the scheme does not always show until it has been some time in operation. In time the awkward corners may be rounded off, or they may become more acute, but the actual life of the community in any so-called model village or town soon proves the value or the unimportance of those features which have been part of the design.

What most impresses itself on those who study the industrial village of Port Sunlight is the fact that it is the definite outcome of a genuine ideal. Whether its present state has surpassed the hopes of its founder or has failed to realise them, we can at any rate see that this was meant to be something better than what had been before, and that no effort was to be wanting to secure this. We are sure that the inconsequent charm and the haphazard picturesqueness of an old English village were not the main objects in view, but that the aim was a conveniently planned and healthy settlement laid out with all possible artistic thought on sound business lines. Garden grounds, roads, and open spaces were to be ample without being wasteful, houses were to be picturesque but sensibly planned. Avenues were to be planted and gardens laid out with needful limitations as to size and direction. The individuality of separate gardens was to be subordinated to a definite idea of communal amenity. Variety of plan was to be obtained only within a certain economic range.

It is surely often realised that many of our beautiful gardens could not have been laid out in a complete and detailed scheme from the beginning, but that a good deal of their success has been evolved from a gradual development of possibilities. So also whilst the picturesque charm of an old town or village may result from the chances and changes of many years, we cannot expect that fully developed schemes for new settlements can attain perfection at the outset. The constant maintenance of an ideal in the life of a town or village is, therefore, of the greatest import, and no niggardly spirit should stand in the way of changes for which time alone may prove the need.

The best conceived plans for the present time are not necessarily the best for the future, and an insistent look out for possible improvements is the only safeguard for the future even where the most careful design and thought have been devoted to the beginnings of such a successful enterprise as that which is here recorded.

_The Foundation._

The life of a village or town must be created of enduring materials and based on some sort of sound business principles. It is the very essence of the village of Port Sunlight that it is claimed to be a sound business enterprise. Though much more than half a million pounds of capital spent on land and buildings has been left out of count for interest, it is still maintained that all outlays have in the main been justified by sound business principles. That the well-being and comfort of their workpeople is a valuable business asset is no new belief with employers of labour. The belief has been acted upon for many years past, but its application has made rapid strides in more recent times. It is probable, however, that there is not another place where this belief has been so very completely demonstrated as at Port Sunlight. The inhabitants of this fortunate village appear to have been saved every needless risk, and have even escaped the snare of mere profit-sharing, in favour of prosperity-sharing and copartnership. It will be of interest here to quote from a Paper by the founder, Sir W. H. Lever, on prosperity-sharing, in November, 1900. “The truest and highest form of enlightened self-interest requires that we pay the fullest regard to the interest and welfare of those around us, whose well-being we must bind up with our own, and with whom we must share our prosperity. We cannot live in comfort with others if we do not share our comforts with them. If we wish men to be honest towards ourselves, we must be honest with them. If we wish men to help us to achieve prosperity, they must feel assured that we will share that prosperity with them. If capital and management think of nothing but their own narrowest, selfish self-interest, without a thought for labour, care nothing for the comfort or welfare of labour, care nothing whether labour is well or ill-housed, whether labour is provided with opportunity for reasonable and proper recreation and relief from toil or not, then capital and management are blind to their own highest interest.... Also the converse of the above is equally true.... If labour adopts the spirit of enlightened and intelligent self-interest, and if capital and management do the same, if each recognise the principle that by looking after the interests of the other they are taking the surest means to achieve their own self-interest, business will be healthier, happiness in business will be greater, the prosperity of the business of the whole country will be assured, and the bogey of foreign competition will be laid once and for all. I venture to submit that prosperity-sharing on the basis of enlightened self-interest will secure this.”

It is the aim which lies behind such words as these which is of real importance, and makes possible the creation of beautiful homes and pleasant surroundings. We may be quite sure that this is the one vital factor in all our efforts, and no excuse need be offered for the reiteration of this point in the pages of this book. We should all live for some sort of ideals, and in proportion as these are right and good, so shall we find the measure of our success.

_The Result._

It is only by comparing the conditions at Port Sunlight with those of other residential areas that the full measure of their value can be ascertained. In some respects the outsider is perhaps a better judge of the success of such a village than are the residents, who come to take a good deal for granted. Thus the visitor who now for the first time goes to Port Sunlight and realises the extent and quality of the work done is naturally much impressed by the variety and interest which the whole village affords, whilst those who are in constant residence may not realise it so keenly. It is hardly possible that those who live in the many charming cottages which have sprung up in this country in recent years, or who have lived a long time in some of the best of our old English cottages, can take that delight in their appearance which the detached observer feels. It is quite possible that wide staring panes of glass and sash windows and treeless streets have as many admirers amongst the average public as are found for the quaint latticed windows and leafy avenues of Port Sunlight. But the air of detachment which inevitably goes with the outside observer of new places is an element of some moment in arriving at an estimate of results. It is obvious that the estimation of a place like this may be based upon practical issues chiefly, or from the purely artistic standpoint, or again, from a point of view which includes both. The main concern of this book is to emphasise the artistic and picturesque qualities of the village whilst not overlooking the fact that artistic values should not be obtained by the sacrifice of practical needs. This could be the only possible point of view which would give final satisfaction to the business man. It is maintained that no undertaking in the world which has been based on purely artistic desires and which has had no basis of practical value has been of any lasting value. The whole foundation of Port Sunlight is believed to consist of practical values and sound business principles.

_Characteristics._

One thing which is at once obvious from the general scheme is the adoption of open spaces, communal gardens, and allotments in preference to the spaces which are devoted to individual gardens surrounding each cottage in so many other places. There is something to be said for and against this. The general amenity of the village gains by the Port Sunlight method, whilst the special charm of individual gardens which enthusiastic efforts produce is naturally lacking. In this way we get less value of contrasts, and lose something of that spirit of emulation which spurs the individual to special effort. Of one thing, however, there can be no doubt. The absence of the many dividing lines of fences between each cottage frontage produces a breadth of effect along the lines of roadways which is in itself very pleasing. From the point of view of the town-planner who looks for the collective result this is, of course, very satisfactory.

Another thing which will be noticed in the illustrations is the elevation of many of the houses above the level of the roadway. This gives a much wider and pleasanter outlook from the windows of the cottages, besides producing a much better effect in the buildings from the roadway than when they are placed on the same level. The sloping green banks leading up to terraced paths in front of the cottages are a distinctive feature of the village. (See Pl. 4.)

It has been maintained that without a good deal of monotony you cannot get very fine architectural results, and it must be admitted that many examples go to prove it. There is a large surface of monotony in the Pyramids; there is a marvellous monotony of detail in the Houses of Parliament; there is a boundless monotony in the house fronts in Gower Street, yet all these have been admired. So this line of argument might have suggested the continued employment of only one architect, or at least only one type of design, for the cottages at Port Sunlight. The great variety of designs in the cottages, which has proved one of the attractions of the place, has, however, in some sense at least, justified itself. Even the flamboyant Gothic dormers and the stepped Belgian gables have a reacting influence on some of their neighbours, though we might consider the latter rather unpractical on the one hand, or the former too pretentious on the other. Moreover, whilst we wonder at the generosity of view which could bestow some of these solid oak-framed structures with their wealth of carving and enriched plaster panellings on the working classes of an industrial village, we cannot but feel grateful to the hand that gave them, though we ourselves may never be able to afford such luxuries of the building art for ourselves. May we not accept these as symbols of some kindly gratitude with which a profitable company decorates the homes of its industrial population? Honestly, we cannot regret these _bonnes bouches_ in the building scheme, though they bravely put out of sight the counting-house and the rates of interest! These are really very welcome ebullitions from that solid undercurrent of practical economy which has placed the whole concern on a sound business footing.