Thornton Hough
The attractive village of Thornton Hough on the Wirral Peninsula is described as Torintone in the Domesday Book, the village's present name was established when the only daughter of Roger de Thorneton, the local landowner, married Richard de Hoghe during the reign of King Edward II.
The Village Green
The village we see today was built largely by Vicount Leverhulme, of the then Lever Brothers Soap Company, who owned nearby Port Sunlight and Joseph Hirst, a textile manufacturer from Huddersfield.
Cottages at Thornton Hough
Thornton Hough has a spacious village green around which group a cluster of cottages, a church, a manor house and a smithy, and amply demonstrates that a modern planned village need not be soulless. The village has a number of shops, including a small Post Office and a traditional pub, the Seven Stars.
The church of All Saints has an extra clock face added to the existing four because the previous landlord, Joseph Hirst, could not see the time from the windows of his bedroom. The Church dates from 1867/68 and was founded as the parish church for Thornton Hough, Brimstage and Litlle Neston.
St. George's United Reformed Church
The Romanesque style St. George's United Reformed Church was constructed 1906-7 by J. Lomax Simpson,for Lord Leverhulme.
The principal features of Romanesque style are the rounded arch and multiple column, There is an amazing variety of designs, with very few repetitions, so that the Church could almost act as a text-book of patterns. The church's woodwork is similarly rich: the altar rails have sixty-eight different shaft patterns; the entrance screen has carved shafts and a series of elaborate modillions on either side; pew ends are carved in cable work in the body of the church, and interlaced blind arcading in the chancel; the organ case is surmounted with an array of gargoyle-like figures; the doors have scrolled strap hinges.
Nearby places of interest
The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port, is situated at the northern end of the Shropshire Union Canal where it enters the Manchester Ship Canal. It contains the largest collection of canal boats in the world. With its fascinating displays housed in a fine collection of Victorian buildings, the museum makes a great day out whatever the weather.
The Blue Planet Aquarium at Ellesmere Port is the largest aquarium in the UK, and boasts two floors of interactive displays and exhibits. The Blue Planet holds more sharks than anywhere else in Britain, holding more than ten different species from around the world including sand tiger sharks.
Bromborough a candidate for the site of the epic Battle of Brunanburh, a great English victory over the Vikings, An Anglo-Saxon preaching cross dating from around the tenth century stands in the churchyard.