Tirley Garth

The building of the house began in 1907 for Bryan Leesmith, a director of the chemical firm of Brunner Mond, the architect being C. E. Mallows. Before it was completed, Leesmith had to sell the house and its ownership passed to Brunner Mond. It was then leased to Richard Henry Prestwich, who was a director of Burberry’s. Prestwich’s daughter, Irene, continued to rent the property after her father’s death in 1940. Irene was a member of the campaign for Moral Re-Armament (MRA) and in 1940 she invited the organisation to move here to shelter from the war. In November 1940 36 incendiary bombs fell in the garden and one on the house. After the war Irene bought the house and grounds from Imperial…

Tirley Garth is built in pebble-dashed brick with buff sandstone dressings, a York stone-slate roof and tall pebble-dashed chimneys. It is designed in the Art and Crafts style. The word “garth” in its name derives from the house being built around an internal courtyard. On all sides of the courtyard are stone cloisters with three arches on each side and in its centre is a sunken circular pool reached by curved steps. The living quarters are on the south, west and east sides. The south front, with views towards the Beeston and Peckforton Hills, is the main front. It is symmetrical with five bays, all of which are gabled. The central bay has a large semicircular projection in two storeys with…