Across the Pond to Arncliffe
Posted on 5/1/25For the first time, we're traveling across the pond this time to Manchester England, in the Crumpsall district. Arncliffe is the name of the beautiful brick home where the Lee family lived at the turn of the century. After studying these photos of this house for many years, now seemed the perfect time to add it to the collection. The following photos are from a leather-bound photograph album entitled Arncliffe, composed entirely of exterior and interior shots of the house. It is recorded as one of a few grand late 19th-century and early 20th-century detached houses on Middleton Road, with attention drawn to its “hard red brick, angled corner turret, and elaborate stone porch” in Pevsner’s Architectural Guide to Lancashire: Manchester and the South East. The house later became The Lithuanian Social Club for a large part of its life.
Special thanks to Rosiland (Rosie) at the Lee Family History blog for granting permission to use these photos.
This handsome family posing for the camera are the residents of Arncliffe and taken approximately in 1896.
Standing from left to right are Bert, Harry, Stanley, Nell, Sidney, and Mary. Seated are the parents from left to right Isabella and William, then the son Jack in front of his father and holding his mother’s hand, and finally Isabel.
William married Isabella Newton Bowes on Christmas Day in 1869 at the Wesleyan Chapel in Manchester. By 1871, he was living in Stockport, working as a tailor and cutter, and in 1873, he co-founded Kay and Lee Ltd., a clothing manufacturer and wholesaler in Manchester, England. The business grew rapidly and by 1881 was employing nearly 400 people. A few days after his 56th birthday. Cause of death was stated as ‘Fibroid Phthisis, cardiac dilation, cardiac failure’ on February 1, 1904. He died a very wealthy man.
They all have very sincere smiles. While it was popular to pose for photos without smiles and have restful, or pondering expression, finding photos of people just being themselves are always enjoyable. This picture makes you feel that this was a fun family to be around.
This photo of the home, taken around the turn of the century, gives us a glimpse into the past of the home’s spectacular details. It is a very typical example of British Victorian architecture. All of the top sashes in this home are filled with English art glass. The grounds are nicely landscaped. In front, there was a gravel drive leading from the street up to the stairs.
Their first residence was in Stockport. They later moved to Cheetham and Salford before purchasing Arncliffe in Crumpsall, North Manchester. I’ve not been able to locate a build date or first owner yet.
This is a view of the back of the house. You can see the typical Victorian winding pathways and garden. The grass looks luxuriously kept. There is a large decorative conservatory with a balcony on top of it.
Another great resource is Lord & Burnham co., Horticultural Architects and Builders with some fantastic photographs. See that book here.
A fantastic resource was The Amateur’s Greenhouse and Conservatory from 1870’s. You can access it here.
This room in the turret looks rather snug, with a writing desk by the window and a sofa by the fire. I would imagine that more informal meals were eaten at this table than in the dining room, unless the table was just for playing games and cards.
Here’s how it worked:
- The Angelus was a “piano player” — not a “player piano”. Instead of being built into the piano, it was a separate machine placed in front of a regular piano.
- It used perforated paper rolls to control which notes were played. Air was pumped through the holes in the roll to operate the mechanical fingers inside the Angelus.
- The pedals at the bottom (which you can see Grandfather operating) were pumped by foot to power the air mechanism.
- Levers and controls on the front allowed the user to adjust tempo, expression (like louder or softer playing), and sustain.
- The Angelus physically pressed the piano keys using small mechanical fingers inside it.
Do you want to see one in action? Check out this YouTube video here.
This room is a classic example of a richly layered Victorian interior. The table is surrounded by leather-backed, upholstered chairs, along with two smaller rattan chairs, likely used as fillers. A long couch sits in front of the four-part window, and an electric chandelier hangs above the table.
Since there is only one bedroom photo in the album, it is being assumed this is the master bedroom where William and Isabella. The room is dominated by an attractive metal or brass bad. Any rowdiness in the billiards room directly above on the second floor would need to be kept to a minimum if the hosts retired early. In this room, we can see a radiator against the wall, so we know the home was heated with steam or hot water radiators along with coal fireplaces.
Like many high middle-class and wealthy homes, having a billiard room was a popular feature in the United Kingdom as well in the United States. It has the typical cues hanging on the wall just to the right as you enter the room, along with the scoreboard above the fireplace. It is difficult to tell
Before & After Photos
Below is the house as it stands today. Thankfully the building still stands, though it has been altered.
Here we can see the home is largely unaltered. The only changes we see here are that all of the chimneys have been removed as well as someone painted the stone around the front entrance a blue color.
According to Google Maps, the building was for sale in May 2014.
By this time, the house clearly was sold and was covered in scaffolding. A new roof was being installed, the brick was repointed, the paint was removed from the stone portico, and the trim was being painted black.
The home was preserved and remodeled rather than demolished, which is something to be thankful for. However, some changes erased portions of the home’s architectural value. While the brickwork was cleaned and repointed, and the false balcony was rehabilitated, several original features were lost during the renovation.
- The roof finials—except for the one on the tower—appear to have been permanently removed.
- The original windows including the stained glass upper sashes, which had lasted untouched for over 100 years, were removed. The loss of these windows and their art glass diminished the home’s architectural integrity.
- The front doors and transom windows were replaced with clear glass.
- Online photos suggest the interior may have been gutted to accommodate a more modern and open floor plan.
- On the third floor, the scalloped shingles were replaced with plain horizontal boards.
Photos from the 2010s show views of the side/back of the house, taken from almost identical spots, showing how some of its grandeur has diminished. The tall chimney stacks have been removed, as have both the lean-to glass house and the more magnificent conservatory.
The gate posts had been painted by the Lithuanian club at some point in its life, and a marble plaque was installed onto them.
When renovations started on the house more recently in its history, the plaque was removed, and the grounds began to be cleared out.
Today, the original posts have been stripped of their paint to reveal their beautiful stone color, just as they were originally. “Arncliffe” is still carved into the stone today.
Here is a photo of some of the club members in the home during the 1970s. This appears to be the dining room. The window on the left was the door to the conservatory, which was removed at some point. It appears that the entire fireplace and overmantel were removed as well. You can make out the stained glass windows still in place.
Thanks for traveling through time with me today!
The address of this historic building is 121 Middleton Rd, Crumpsall, Manchester M8 4JY, UK. If you discover any additional research or more recent interior photos, feel free to share them in the comments below.
To learn more about the Lee Family History, visit their blog, which features additional photos and family letters—a fascinating deep dive into their story.
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