Liscard Hall

The End of the Hall

Liscard Hall was built in 1832 and was originally called 'Moors Hey House'. Built by Sir John Tobin, the house stood in some 57 acres of land. Sir John Tobin had been a successful Ship Owner and Merchant in Liverpool and when he retired he came to Wallasey to take up residence. As a younger man, he had been a captain of a slave ship and it was as a slave trader that he made much of his fortune. He was knighted in 1820. In 1822 Cape Tobin in Greenland was named after him.

On his death on 21st January 1851 his son-in-law, Harold Littledale, came to live in the hall. He was a notable merchant in the City of Liverpool. He died on the 9th March 1889, and eventually the Local Board purchased the Hall and grounds.

The grounds were turned into Central Park whilst the house was turned into an arts school and renamed 'Liscard Science & Art College'. The college closed in 1982 and in 1988 was renamed 'Liscard Hall' and was leased to 'Serve Wirral Training' where the Youth Training Scheme (government funded programme) had their base but Serve Wirral Training went into voluntary liquidation in 2003. The Hall then became vacant.

In the early hours of 7th July 2008 firefighters were called to tackle a serious fire at Liscard Hall which had been started by local vandals. Crews from The Wirral and Liverpool were called as three floors of the building were engulfed in flames. The damage was too great to the Grade II listed Hall and deemed too unsafe so the building was demolished. Liscard councillor Leah Fraser said: “While it looks like the yobs are the cause of this fire, I’m afraid Wirral Council must also take some of the responsibility. The council had allowed this building to fall into disrepair.” She said the local authority had “dithered in what to do” with the hall and “promises of community use” came to nothing. “Sadly, we can now see the result”.