251 Menlove Avenue

Mendips, Menlove Avenue
Mendips, Lennon's childhood home. The blue plaque was added as part of the English Heritage scheme
General information
Type	semi-detached
Location	Woolton, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Address	251 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool, L25 7SA
Coordinates
Owner	National Trust
Website
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatles-childhood-homes/

251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool, England, named Mendips, is the childhood home of John Lennon, singer and songwriter with The Beatles. The Grade II listed building is preserved by the National Trust.

Residence of John Lennon

The 1930s semi-detached property, which belonged to Lennon's Aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith, is in Woolton, South Liverpool, England. Lennon moved there in July 1946 at the age of five from 9 Newcastle Road, in the nearby suburb of Wavertree. Lennon 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.

National Trust acquisition

Despite having purchased the childhood residence of Paul McCartney, the National Trust showed no interest in acquiring the property on Menlove Avenue, claiming that, unlike McCartney's home, no Beatles' songs had been composed at Mendips. However, McCartney recalls at least one song, "I'll Get You," being 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 later were sold to Beatles' fans.

On 7 December 2000, exactly 20 years after the death of John Lennon, 251 Menlove Avenue was adorned with a English Heritage blue plaque, carrying the text "JOHN LENNON 1940–1980 Musician and Songwriter lived here 1945–1963".

In March 2002, the house was bought by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and donated to the National Trust, in order to save it from further demolition and property speculators. The house was then restored to its 1950s appearance, and 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."

In February 2012, both this house and Paul McCartney's childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road were Grade II listed by English Heritage.

In pop culture

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

See also

• 9 Newcastle Road: John Lennon's first childhood home
• 20 Forthlin Road: A childhood home of Beatle Paul McCartney, another National Trust property.
• 12 Arnold Grove: Childhood home of Beatle George Harrison.
• 10 Admiral Grove: Ringo Starr's childhood home.

External links

• The Beatles' Childhood Homes – National Trust, includes Mendips and 20 Forthlin Road
• Inside 251 Menlove Avenue – BBC
• The many childhood homes of The Beatles