Hill Bark

---

title: "Hill Bark" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["grade-ii*-listed-houses-in-merseyside", "hotels-in-merseyside", "timber-framed-buildings-in-england"] description: "Country house in Wirral, Merseyside, England" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Bark" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Country house in Wirral, Merseyside, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]

Field	Value
name	Hill Bark
alternate_names	Bidston Court
image	Hill Bark front 2019-2.jpg
caption	Frontage of Hill Bark
location	Frankby, Wirral, Merseyside, England
map_type	Merseyside
map_caption	Location in Merseyside
coordinates
architect	Grayson & Ould
architectural_style	Vernacular
years_built	1891
ren_architect	Rees & Holt
renovation_date	1928–31 (rebuilt)
client	Robert William Hudson
owner	Hillbark Hotel
designations	{{Designation list
embed	yes
designation1	Grade II* Listed Building
designation1_offname	Hill Bark
designation1_date	5 June 1963
designation1_number
website
::

|name = Hill Bark |alternate_names = Bidston Court |image = Hill Bark front 2019-2.jpg |image_size = |caption = Frontage of Hill Bark |location = Frankby, Wirral, Merseyside, England |map_type = Merseyside |map_caption = Location in Merseyside |coordinates = |architect = Grayson & Ould |architectural_style = Vernacular |years_built = 1891 |ren_architect = Rees & Holt |renovation_date = 1928–31 (rebuilt) |client = Robert William Hudson |owner = Hillbark Hotel |designations = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Grade II* Listed Building | designation1_offname = Hill Bark | designation1_date = 5 June 1963 | designation1_number = |website =

Hill Bark (also known as Bidston Court) is a large country house to the south of the hamlet of Frankby, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series comment that it is "one of the most notable Victorian essays in half-timbered design anywhere in the country".

History

The house was originally built in 1891 for the soap manufacturer Robert William Hudson on Bidston Hill, Birkenhead. It was designed by the Liverpool architectural firm of George Enoch Grayson and Edward A. L. Ould (probably by Ould), and was then known as Bidston Court. It was the home of John Laird, Chairman of Laird Brothers Shipbuilders of Birkenhead (later Cammell Laird) until approximately 1910. In 1921 the house was later sold to Sir Ernest Royden, and he arranged for the house to be dismantled and rebuilt on the present site, at Royden Park, between 1928 and 1931. This work was supervised by the architectural firm of Rees and Holt. In 2001 the house was being used as an old people's home, and later in the 2000s it was converted into a hotel.

Architecture

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Bidston_Court,_floorplan,fig_18(Modern_Homes,_1909).jpg" caption="Floorplan, c. 1909"] ::

The house is built on a U-plan. It is constructed in timber framing on a stone base, and has stone and brick chimney stacks and a slate roof. There are multiple gables and the half-timber exterior framing is highly decorated. Internally there is a great hall with an organ gallery and an open roof. stained glass windows by William Morris, and a pair of church screen doors dating from the 13th century. In a room now used as a restaurant is a fire surround dated 1795 and designed by Robert Adam.

It has been claimed that Bidston Court so impressed Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany when visiting Cammell Laird shipyards, that he built a copy of it in Potsdam. However the authors of the Buildings of England series point out that this is untrue, and that the house in Potsdam was only vaguely inspired by Bidston Court.

Present day

The house is now used as a hotel, known as Hillbark Hotel. It is licensed for weddings, and offers facilities for conferences.

The grounds adjoining the hotel are used by the Hillbark Players, who present traditional open-air Shakespeare plays every two years in a purpose-built 'theatre in the woods' with all seats under cover. The group take their name from Hill Bark House and have been performing here since 1964 (the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth). Productions take place in June, in odd-numbered years.

References

References

1. {{NHLE
2. "History". Hillbark Hotel.
3. (2011). "Cheshire". [[Yale University Press]].
4. "A unique hotel". Hillbark Hotel.
5. "Discovering the 1527 altar piece of Saint Thomas More". North Mymms History Project.
6. "The Juice FM Style Awards 2011". Juice FM.
7. "Home". Hillbark Players.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::