Mostyn House
Black and White Buildings
In this picture local fishermen's wives are transporting by donkey sacks of locally caught shellfish, possibly to the station or perhaps to Neston. Note the total lack of vehicular traffic at this spot at this early date.
The large 4-storey Mostyn House School building (with the little tower) in the picture dates from the 1890s. In 1932 a new facade was added creating the balconies and its present appearance.
The imposing black & white frontage of the former Mostyn House School, built in 1895, still dominates this section of The Parade. The original 18th century building, at its core, was formerly known as the Mostyn Arms (and previously the George Inn); it was from here that stage coaches once departed for Chester. When its proprietor Mrs Esther Briscoe died in 1855, there was no market for the building as a hotel, and it then became a school.
This photo shows Mostyn House School before the building of the new four-storey block in 1895; this is how the school may have looked at the time when Sir Wilfred Grenfell, second son of headmaster A.S. Grenfell was born here in 1865.
Before becoming a school in 1855 this was the Mostyn Arms Hotel, from where coaches left for Chester via the new turnpike road.
The Revd Edward Price transferred his pupils here from Tarvin, and in 1862 he passed on the business to his nephew Revd A.S. Grenfell.
It is an interesting fact that Thomas Brassey (1805-70), the famous civil engineer and railway contractor, was the owner of the freehold of these premises from 1849 until his death in 1870. The Grenfell family were then able to purchase the freehold, and the premises were enlarged progressively by generations of the family over the subsequent years, allowing them to expand the school considerably over the next century.
Following the closure of the school in 2010, this iconic former school building was renovated as private apartments in 2013/5.
The Ship
Separated from Mostyn House by a narrow lane is The Ship, currently Parkgate’s only hotel. Originally dating from the 1700s the present building was formed in 1859 by the amalgamation of several different premises on the north side of Drury Lane, from when for the next hundred years it was known as The Union. The single storey extension was added later following the demolition of the adjoining former Hilbre House in the 1960s.
Last Update April 2022