Wigan Album

Ron, I'm not so sure that this was near the Infirmary. Although there is a connection via the names: The Elms and The Hollies and these were/are very close to the Infirmary, I have no recollection of The Larches being next to these grounds/houses. It is possible that The Larches was/were further up Wigan Lane.
There were and still are a number of very large houses at the top of Wigan Lane, around the Walter Scott Avenue area.
Additionally, this building (photograph) is on high ground as the slope shows, which could be the area at the top of Wigan Lane - the land where the Infirmary stands may not be considered flat, but the sloping land is not so severe.

Larches Cottages were at 164 Wigan Lane, which is just lower down than the Infirmary, near to where the car park is. So I'm adding 2 and 2 together that the House would be near the cottages? Not managed to find it marked on a map though?

Ian you are right, The Larches was slightly south of Walter Scott Avenue on the opposite (east) side of Wigan Lane. It is marked on old ordnance survey maps.

That was a rambling big house, one half wouldn't know what the other half was up to.

Ron, according to this Green Hill Conservation Area Document (link below) it was further up near to Old Lane.

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Docs/PDF/Resident/Planning-and-Building-Control/Conservation-areas/Green-Hill/Green-Hill-appraisal.pdf

Map of area showing The Larches.

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Docs/PDF/Resident/Planning-and-Building-Control/Conservation-areas/Green-Hill/010-Historic-Ordnance-Survey-Plan-Extract-1847.pdf

Cyril, thanks for that information I wonder why the properties near the Infirmary were called LARCHES COTTAGES??

On the 1890 map Larches cottages were up Green Hill opposite Sicklefield. The Larches is marked a little further on.

Thanks for that info. Peter. It would appear that the address that I have for LARCHES COTTAGES is incorrect.

Is this the side view of the house? It looks like it to me.

Or possibly the rear view?

Rich., I would say that the view is of the back of the house. I have seen many old houses where the front holds the architectural splendour with the back of the house being plain.
In many cases, the sides of the house also possess splendour, especially when there are lawns on the side or the side(s) can be easily viewed by people from other areas, such as other houses or roads.
The reasons are possibly that there was the thought that costs could be lowered and time could be saved. Obviously, large and elaborate windows are more expensive and more difficult to construct than small, plain windows. Also, large and elaborate windows possibly needed specialists to make them and specialists to erect them. There are also other reasons to consider, such as: availability of materials, lintels, foundations, weight, strength, climate conditions etc.
Additionally, such houses tended to be built facing a major road and, hopefully, in a position which had the sun shining on the front for most of the day.
I believe, this was an era of prosperity being importantly displayed and, therefore, lawns/gardens to the front and to the sides were of more interest than those at the back - after all, onlookers would see: beautiful gardens, splendid architecture, social gatherings held on the lawns...

John, I had a very strong feeling that The Larches/house was around that area, which you kindly pointed out. Also, thank you for supporting my words, which Ron seemed to doubt.
I remember, there were a number of very large houses, which I would say were Victorian, on that stretch of Wigan Lane. Some are still standing, but a number of them were demolished - some, long before we were born.
Many of the houses between The Cherry Gardens and The Boar's Head do not look Victorian and I strongly believe that they were built in the 20th Century and possibly from the 1920's onwards.
Additionally, I know that the land drops down and quite severely in parts from Wigan Lane to the River Douglas. One only needs to go from Wigan Lane to the River Douglas via Sicklefield to understand why there are so many steps. Therefore, this would explain the sloping land which can be seen. Also, we can see a large bay window and I would state that this is on the side of the house - possibly, facing south to capture the early morning and afternoon sunlight; this would explain my previous post about holding social gatherings etc on one of the lawns (sides and front).

The National Library of Scotland website has this 25 inch to the mile o.s. map showing the Larches and the cottages of the same name. Once you've opened the link below, if you slide the bar, lower left of the screen, to the left, the map overlay gradually changes to a present day map making it very useful for seeing exactly where demolished buildings were situated. It's interesting to look at the Scholes area and all the changes in the town centre with this. Hoping it still works via this link.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=53.56831&lon=-2.63796&layers=168&b=8

Thanks for the link John, and as you say very interesting with the overlay.

I wouldn't have thought that Ron doubted your comments Ian, he values all comments I'm sure and would have taken them into consideration, but as he wrote the information that he had put the address for Larch Cottages as near to the infirmary, though with information from the old maps the location has been found and is where you initially thought it could have been.

Ian I never once doubted the info you published I had an address as 164, Wigan Lane for Larch Cottages and presumed that the house would be near that location.. As there was an ELMS and HOLLIES it appeared to be feasible..