Cleveland House
1878 Built around 1878, Cleveland House was named by its first owner, William Hinmers (1820-1902). William had been born in Guisborough, which was then the largest town in the Cleveland area of North Yorkshire. He must have felt a strong affection for the place, as he had also given his previous home in Southport the same name. His son Joseph and his great grandson John Reid Hinmers both named their own houses Cleveland Lodge.
The Hinmers lived at Cleveland House for over 20 years. Originally numbered 66 Eccles Old Road, it was later renumbered 166 as more properties were built along the road. Its current address is no. 224, an indication of the extent of building in the past 100 years. It is a substantial house on a deep corner plot. The 1911 census shows that it had 14 rooms, excluding bathrooms. Five of William Hinmer’s six children lived there.
1889 Salford Archives shows that in 1889 plans were submitted to erect new outbuildings and a toolshed, designed by Manchester architects Maxwell and Tuke.
1902 When William Hinmers died a widower in 1902, only his 50 year old daughter Maria was still living with him at Cleveland House, along with four servants. Maria was to move a little way along the road to The Limes at no.56.
1906 No-one is listed in the trade directories as living at Cleveland House in 1904 or 1905. By 1906 the house was home to the family of James Higson, master painter and decorator. He was also a Salford Councillor and a JP. James would live there for the next 20 years. Salford born James Higson (1862-1933) was a third generation decorator who had grown up on Liverpool Street. He must have made a good living. He had lived at The Crescent and at Bolton Road. In 1901 he was at 41, Eccles Old Road. This is part of a substantial three storey terrace, once known as Mount Agar, which still stands today as nos. 57-65 Eccles Old Road. James Higson acquired Cleveland House at around 44 years of age.
1911 The census shows the six person Higson household living in 14 rooms. James was with wife Elizabeth Annie, a sister-in-law and two female servants. His only daughter, 23 year old Hilda Alice, was away on Census night.
1914 On 23 September Hilda Alice Higson, was married at St James Church, Hope, opposite her home. She married a neighbour from no. 72 Eccles Old Road, a house known as Elm Bank. This was John Lomax Prestwich, a 29 year old engineer. His father, Joseph Prestwich of Elm Bank, was Managing Director of the Eccles based Protector Lighting and Lamp Company, developing and manufacturing miners’ safety lamps. John Lomax also worked there.
1915 Slater’s directory shows that in 1915 a new house adjacent to Cleveland, called The Moorings, was occupied by John L Prestwich. John Higson’s daughter and her new husband had set up their first home next door. This is now the site of Barnado’s Salford Office.
1926 John Lomax Prestwich purchased the large house of Beech Hurst on the Fairhope estate. The house had previously been occupied as two separate dwellings and the following year the the Higson and Prestwich households were again living as neighbours.
1927-1934 Cleveland House was occupied by Thomas Osborne Warburton, a corn miller and hay merchant. In 1909 he had built Grangethorpe, a house on the corner of Eccles Old Road and Rivington Road. The site is now a block of four apartments. In the mid 1930s and in poor health, Thomas O Warburton left Cleveland House and retired to Thornton Cleveleys on the Fylde Coast, where he died in 1946.
1937 The departure of the Warburton household saw the end of Cleveland House as a single family home. The 1937/38 register of midwives lists Annie Amelia Jones, a registered midwife, at 166 Eccles Old Road. The 1939 Register, taken at the start of WWII, shows Cleveland Nursing Home managed by Annie Amelia Jones née Hipwell. Her sister Gertrude is also listed as an assistant nurse. Annie’s daughter Lilly would also go on to train as a children’s nurse at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital at Pendlebury.
From 1939 to 1949 Manchester Evening News family notices announced over 500 births at the Cleveland Nursing Home.
For over 80 years Cleveland House served as a base for health and social care services for the people of Salford. William Hinmers and Annie Jones, née Hipwell (read more about them on the People pages) would surely have approved.
Until 2021 the house was still part of the estate of the Salford Royal NHS Trust. It was put up for sale in October 2022. In early 2023, Salford Council announced that Cleveland House had been added to its Local Heritage List. This listing will be taken into consideration in any future planning application to ensure proposals remain in keeping with the character of the building.