Returning to the hall, one can enter the front main room through the doorway below the stairs. Here, this room is again very spacious as with the back room.There are three exits to the room, the doorway just entered, the door in to the hallway and the side door from the porch area. This room takes up the right hand side of the front of the house and is very bright due to the three large windows at the front of the room. Here is also a fireplace on the outside wall to keep the large room warm. The internal decoration is grand with high ceilings and painted plasterwork on the walls. This is an excellent front room and provides good views over the entrance drive and the main road, and is always kept warm by the open fire.

click thumbnails to enllarge

rear of front room

front room window

doorway to the hall

the side wall

ceiling cornice

ceiling cornice

As one can see, the ground floor of the property is in a very poor condition. Little parts of the ceiling of each room remains and rain is getting in from the holes in the roof. No internal decoration really remains apart from the small alcove, part ceiling and wooden panel surrounds on the rear and side windows. The ground floor is at the mercy of pigeon droppings, which have rotted the floor in many parts of the building, making it very unsafe with the cellar system directly below. Once this would have been a highly kept Villa with splendid paneling, high ceilings and roaring fireplaces, now left to the mercy of the weather. It was possible to view both the upper floor and the lower floor while standing on parts of the ground floor. Where the roof was intact, the floor was well covered and had little wear, but with sections that were exposed to the rain, the floor was very brittle and often missing in parts. The front room would have been an excellent welcoming feature of the house when you came up from the winding driveway.

location

SANDFIELD TOWER

THE HOME OF JOSEPH EDWARDS

overview

My name is Jonathon Wild. I am a Local Historian based in South Liverpool. My first association with Sandfield Tower was by chance. Being stuck in a traffic jam a good few years back and only noticing the building at the side set back from the road. It was derelict back then too,but had a mystery about why it was left there in such a built up area and I had to find out more - and see inside! With help from the local Record Office, and past history of the area, I began to piece together the history of the building and the reasons for it now being empty. If you have information on Sandfield Tower (which has many names - Sandfield Tower, Sandfield - The Tower, Gwalia) then please contact me via the contact page.

Central Drive, Sandfield Park

built

1851

LISTED

Grade II

features

A grand Grade II listed building set in the corner of Sandfield Park. Used as a private villa and later as a private church, it has extensive grounds outside the property, 3 large reception rooms, spacious entrance hall, 6 bedrooms with a further two attic rooms and a large tower rising through the centre of the building. A historical gem that needs to be preserved and protected!