Port Sunlight not chosen for UK’s World Heritage Site Tentative List
The village of Port Sunlight has not been chosen to join the UK’s Tentative List for World Heritage Site inscription, following a bid submitted last year.
Port Sunlight in Merseyside was the nineteenth century creation of William Lever to provide healthy, comfortable housing with beautiful architecture and surroundings for ‘Sunlight Soap’ factory workers. It is considered to be one of the finest surviving examples of an industrial worker village. Port Sunlight is noted for its significant influence on the design of ‘garden villages’ around the world and its emphasis on providing beauty for all.
Today, Port Sunlight is home to over 900 Grade II listed houses and public buildings, a world class art gallery, museum, beautiful gardens and parkland, and a thriving community.
Following many years of encouragement and desire by the local community and politicians to have Port Sunlight’s importance recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a bid was submitted in July 2022.
The bid was in response to the UK Government’s open call and put together by Port Sunlight Village Trust, with support from strategic partners Wirral Council, National Museums Liverpool and Unilever.
This included consultation with Port Sunlight’s communities as well as significant research, which formed the basis of the bid.
By being chosen to join the list, it was hoped to have Port Sunlight recognised amongst other similar worker settlements such as Saltaire and New Lanark.
Despite not being selected, Port Sunlight Village Trust and its partners have vowed to build on the research, partnership working and community engagement that went into the bid.
If there is support for Port Sunlight to submit another bid to join the UK’s Tentative […]