The Beatles guitarist George Harrison’s childhood home has been awarded a blue plaque, honouring the property as a culturally significant landmark. 12 Arnold Grove previously looked like another terrace house in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree, but from now on, the location will be easier for Beatles fans to recognise.
Since The Beatles broke out, fans have been making the pilgrimage to Liverpool to visit the Fab Four’s world. The city now has a dedicated Beatles Museum, as well as organised tours that take fans to infamous locations like the Cavern Club, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields and beyond.
The tours also usually take fans out into the suburbs to pay their respects to where it all began: the members’ childhood homes. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s childhood abodes are now open to the public as museums, but Harrison’s house was previously only recognisable to fans with a keen eye.
Thankfully, 12 Arnold Grove has finally been honoured with a blue culture plaque. Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, has said, “This blue plaque recognition of George’s birthplace is a source of family pride for all the Harrisons, and something that none of us, mainly George, would ever have anticipated.”
“So much of who George was came from being born and spending his earliest years at 12 Arnold Grove, undeniably a part of who George was,” she continued, adding, “He left a footprint on this world, on this country, in this city and on this street.” The guitarist passed away at age 58 in 2001.
The sign was unveiled on May 24th by Harrison, along with culture minister Stephen Parkinson. The tribute will sit proudly on the side of the Victorian house where the Beatle lived from his birth in 1943 until he was nearly seven.
In his own words, Harrison said the house was “just like Coronation Street” with “no garden” and a “door straight on to the street”. In his memoir, I, Me, Mine, he wrote, “It was OK that house, very pleasant being little and it was always sunny in summer.”
Steve Rotherham, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, has also marked the moment. He said Harrison “never lost his love” for his home and “will always be regarded as one of Liverpool’s greatest sons”.
