ONE of St Helens’ most iconic and historic buildings remains on the market 12 months after being put up for sale.
Mansion House, in Victoria Park, which has been the headquarters of Age UK Mid Mersey for more than 25 years, was put on the market in January 2021.
The independent charity that helps local older people, said it was putting its historic St Helens headquarters up for sale in order to provide a better service for those they support.
Age UK Mid Mersey said they have “reluctantly” decided to sell The Mansion House, which sits in the surroundings of Victoria Park in St Helens.
The iconic building has been the charity’s head office for more than a quarter of a century and has been home to day centre sessions and activity classes as well as the base for befriending and helping hands services.
At the same time, until recently, the site has provided much needed funds through its trading activities including the Victoria Bistro, weddings and events and corporate room hire, and hosted the annual Mansion House Beer Festival.
Sitting on Cowley Hill in the heart of Victoria Park, the Mansion House is steeped in history, and, built around 1849 by the late gentleman solicitor John Ansdell, has become an iconic building in the town.
The building’s more recent uses have included a museum and the house and walled gardens were sold to Age UK Mid Mersey in 1994.
The building also featured in TV’s Most Haunted series in 2016.
Age UK Mid Mersey stressed that the sale does not mean an end to their much needed and much loved services.
The charity, which was nominated in 2020 for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, has decided that money used for the upkeep of the imposing building could be better spent on the community’s needs.
Acting chief executive, Shelley Brown said in January 2021: “After a lot of soul searching over many months our Board of Trustees have taken the difficult decision to sell The Mansion House.
“We’ve been very proud to call it home for the last 25 years and in that time we’ve spent over £1million in maintaining and running the iconic building, with additional support from Heritage Lottery funding, and it has served our fundraising efforts through our trading activities. “However, costs are increasing every year and we can no longer justify continuing to spend the Charity’s money on the upkeep of this beautiful building when there is so much need within the community”. She added: “When we leave the Mansion House we will be able to focus all our resources on the Charity’s work and we will invest the proceeds of the sale in services for older people in the community.“ We are grateful for the help and support from St Helens Borough Council throughout our tenure of the site and hope to work closely with them to maximise the benefits of the sale of the Mansion House for the good of the community.
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