Speke Hall: Billiard room that hosted Rossetti and Whistler reopens

A games room which was once used to entertain artistic luminaries such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James McNeill Whistler has been restored to its former splendour.

The Billiard Room at Liverpool's Speke Hall hosted some leading lights when they visited between 1867 and 1877.

The National Trust has reopened it to the public after a long restoration.

Curator Katie Taylor said "great care" had been taken to "document, record and sympathetically repair" the room.

The charity described the hall as a "rare Tudor manor with a Victorian personality", which is home to "a priest hole, Gothic Revival furniture and William Morris wallpaper".

A representative said that during the 18th and 19th centuries, it experienced "years of neglect and decay, including a spell when it was used as a cow shed", before it was "finally pulled into the Victorian era of improvement and technology" by its then owners, the Leyland family.

They said Frederick Leyland, who was manager of the Bibby shipping line and "a multimillionaire by today's standards", made many improvements and changes during his first winter at the house, creating the Billiard Room, a scullery and the library.

They said the businessman was "deeply engaged in the world of art" and a patron of many artists, including Whistler, who painted portraits of his family, and Rossetti, who described the hall as "a very glorious old house, full of interest in every way".

They added that the revamp had seen work on the Billiard Room's flooring, paint work, soft furnishings and light shades.

Ms Taylor said the project started "a long time ago" and had been "triggered by the failing carpet and old repairs to the stone floor that needed improvement".

"Working in a Grade I listed building meant that great care was taken to understand, document, record and sympathetically repair the room and its scheme using appropriate materials and retaining as much historic evidence as possible," she said.

"To redecorate authentically, we commissioned a decorative analysis and pigment analysis of the paint layers to identify the correct 1860s paint scheme and guide our colour choices."

She said the restoration team had "worked closely with a specialist decorator to get the right tones in the room", adding that some paints had to be mixed "by hand to get the colour perfect".

The hall's collections and house manager, Michelle Yunque, said furnishings from the Leyland family's other residence were used as a reference.

"New curtains were made... inspired by photographs of Frederick Leyland's London home, which showed how he mixed and blended silks, velvets and printed cottons in his schemes," she said.

Simon Osborne, the general manager of the charity's Liverpool properties, said he was "delighted" visitors would be able to enjoy the "unique insight into the Victorian period".

"Speke Hall offers a unique insight into Liverpool, Tudor and Victorian society and the Billiard Room is one of the key areas of interest within the historic mansion," he added.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]