Walton Lea Higher Walton Cheshire

A Classical mansion designed for the Warrington industrialist and soap manufacturer George Crosfield in the Cheshire countryside.  On his removal to London in 1875 it was sold to his brother, John Crosfield (1832-1901), who remained there until his death. By 1881 Crosfields were Brummer Mond’s largest customer. John Crossfield was the first chairman of BM and remained a director until his death. Crosfields were the leading Liberal family in Warrington. The Armitage family then bought it the early 1900's when the rest of the Crosfield family moved to London. When they sold it in 1923 the Greenall family, brewers and political rivals of the Crosfields, acquired it and eventually demolished it, leaving only the cottages, lodge and the walled kitchen garden intact.

The Victorians were meticulous in siting and sizing their gardens. The garden at Walton Lea measures one acre in extent and the  land  slopes  downwards  from  the  south-facing wall toward the  north-facing  wall,  so that it  "tilts" towards the sun.  In  1942,  the  kitchen  garden  at  Walton  Lea,  which  had  recently been acquired by Warrington  Borough  Council,  as  part  of  a  plot,  which covered  over  48  acres, was  used  for  intensive  vegetable  growing and in  the  early days  of  Warrington  Borough  Council ownership,  produced  all  the  year  round  vegetables and tomatoes  for  the hospitals,  and  privets  for  the  new  estates  of Warrington.

Reference           A E Musson Enterprise in Soap and Chemicals: Joseph Crosfield & Sons, Limited : 1815-1965 page 133