251 Menlove Avenue is the childhood home of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

. Located in the

Woolton Woolton (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is an area located southeast of the city and bordered by Allerton, Gateacre, Halewood, and Hunt's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,921. Overview Originally a ...

suburb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, it was named Mendips after the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the River Frome, Somerset ...

. The Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

is preserved by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Residence of John Lennon

The 1933-built

semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family Duplex (building), duplex dwelling that shares one common party wall, wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no sh ...

property, which belonged to

's aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith, is in

, south

. Lennon moved there in July 1946 at the age of five from 9 Newcastle Road in the nearby suburb of

Wavertree Wavertree is a district and suburb of Liverpool, in the county of Merseyside, England. It is a Ward (country subdivision), ward of Liverpool City Council, and its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 14,772. Located to ...

. He lived at Mendips after his mother, who was living with her boyfriend, was persuaded that it would be better for his Aunt Mimi and George to take care of him. He remained at Mendips until mid-1963, when he was 22 years old. It was approximately 30 metres north west of this house that Lennon's mother Julia was hit by a car and killed on the evening of 15 July 1958. In 1965 Mimi sold the property, taking away some of the furnishings and giving away others.

National Trust acquisition

Despite having purchased 20 Forthlin Road, the childhood residence of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, the

showed no interest in acquiring Mendips, claiming that, unlike McCartney's home, no Beatles songs had been composed there. However, McCartney recalls at least one song, " I'll Get You", being written there. " Please Please Me" was also written there. During the filming of the American TV film '' In His Life: The John Lennon Story'' in 2000, the then-owner of the house allowed the film crew inside, and also allowed them to knock down a downstairs wall to make room for the cameras. This resulted in 150 bricks being removed, which were later sold to Beatles fans. On 7 December 2000, the day before the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death, 251 Menlove Avenue was adorned with an

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

, carrying the text "JOHN LENNON 1940–1980 Musician and Songwriter lived here 1945–1963". Lennon's widow

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

bought the house in March 2002, and donated it to the National Trust in order to save it from further demolition and property speculators. The house was then restored to its 1950s appearance. At a joint press conference with the National Trust in March 2003, when it was announced that the restoration work was finished and the house would be opened to the public, Yoko Ono said: "When John's house came up for sale I wanted to preserve it for the people of Liverpool and John Lennon and Beatles fans all over the world." Every year on the anniversary of his death, the National Trust leave the bedroom light on in John Lennon's childhood home, all night. In February 2012, both this house and Paul McCartney's childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road were

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

by English Heritage.

In popular culture

* The house is featured on the sleeve of Oasis' single " Live Forever". *'' Menlove Ave.'' is a John Lennon album, posthumously released in 1986 under the supervision of Yoko Ono.

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control John Lennon Houses completed in the 20th century Music museums in Liverpool National Trust properties in Merseyside Biographical museums in Merseyside Historic house museums in Merseyside Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Grade II listed houses History of the Beatles

Residence of John Lennon

National Trust acquisition

In popular culture

See also

References

External links