A Guide to Port Sunlight Village

The third edition of a best-selling book on the Port Sunlight Village, with a new chapter on the Lady Lever Art Gallery, further information on key individuals and an increase in the number of illustrations. The model industrial village of Port Sunlight was founded by the soap manufacturer W. H. Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) in 1888 for the factory workers of the firm of Lever Brothers. The village was acclaimed from the first as exemplifying the best in English town planning and house design, and greatly influenced subsequent industrial villages such as the later parts of Bournville, and the garden city movement more generally. This guide considers the village in its historical context, with particular emphasis on the planning and architectural aspects. It explains the social and visual significance of Port Sunlight and the reasons for its being unique in the history of town planning, as well as looking at the way its development was influenced by changing fashions in urban design. The relevance of Lever’s own character and interests – his social conscience, his love of art and beauty and his architectural enthusiasms – are also examined. Two tours, one for pedestrians and one for car drivers, which include and describe the most significant buildings of the village, are an additional feature of the guide.