The former Woolton Redbourne Hotel in Acrefield Road has been acquired by Mr Tom Morris - head of T J Morris Ltd, a.k.a. Home Bargains - who is proposing to convert it back into a house for his own family's use. An extension - swimming pool plus roof terrace - is to be built at the rear, and a detached garage block at the side, but the essential character of the listed building will be preserved and its period details (inside as well as out) restored. We have supported the application for planning permission and listed building consent, and also supplied the new owner with some historical particulars:

The house was originally called 'Aymestry Court', this name being derived from Aymestry in Herefordshire. The village of Aymestry (sometimes spelt Aymestrey) was the former place of residence of Herbert John Robinson, the original occupier, and his wife Agnes Esther, the daughter of Henry Tate the sugar refiner. Henry Tate had bought the land in Acrefield Road, Woolton, in 1879 and built the house in 1881-82, giving it in trust to his daughter (apparently as a belated wedding present).

Henry Tate had been living in Woolton Park nearby, but moved to London at about the same time that his daughter moved into Aymestry Court. Henry Tate was the son of a Unitarian minister, which probably accounts for his choice of Woolton (close to Gateacre Chapel) as a place to live. His sugar refinery in Love Lane, Liverpool, opened in 1874. Knighted in 1898, following his gift of 'The National Gallery of British Art' - later known as the Tate Gallery - in London, Sir Henry Tate joined up with Abram Lyle in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle.