Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) will be leaving their I.M Marsh Campus site. The site will be redeveloped and current proposals mean that Bark Hill will be demolished to make way for new housing. 

The Liverpool Black History Research Group have investigated the origins of Bark Hill and have found that it was built as the country home of the slave-owning Addison family. Further supporting information is provided in the following link from UCL’s Study of the Legacies of British Slavery

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/45764

We maintain that although this building is not a listed it should be protected due to its important links to Liverpool’s role in slavery and the slave trade. We further submit that it is entirely feasible to retain Bark Hill while allowing for development of the surrounding land and without prejudice to the overall proposals. We believe that Bark Hill predates ‘Holmfield’ which is safeguarded as a listed building and proposed for conversion on another part of the site. We are also aware of a previous Vision Statement (2018) prepared for LJMU by Barton Wilmore Partnership which supports our case. This proposed the retention of Bark Hill in development proposals describing it as a building of some quality that could be converted to residential use. We therefore must question why there has been a change to this position given the current description used of Bark Hill as a ‘heritage asset’

If the proposals are genuinely ‘celebrating heritage and legacy’ as claimed, the future of Bark Hill must be protected.