The Firs Whitworth Lane Fallowfield

In 1845 or 1846 Joseph Whitworth moved from 62 Upper Brook Street to “Arden Place,” a good-sized farm house in Fallowfield, two miles further south. Within six months he had commissioned Edward Walters to design what was effectively a new house, leaving little of the original structure standing. Work was completed by 1850 by which time Whitworth had also acquired adjacent farmland which altogether formed an estate of 52 acres. This he named “The Firs.”  In 1882 Joseph Whitworth offered the house and estate to C P Scott, the editor of the Manchester Guardian, at a peppercorn rent. In accordance with Joseph Whitworth’s wishes, the estate was gifted to Owens College on Scott’s death, subsequently becoming the official residence of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester.

Reference           Builder 16 March 1872 page 201 - list of works by Edward Walters