John Lennon's Berkshire toilet becomes museum exhibit
It was in his mansion at Sunninghill when he lived there in the late sixties
A toilet from the Berkshire mansion that John Lennon once lived in has gone on display in a museum.
The porcelain loo, from Tittenhurst Park in Sunninghill where Lennon lived with Yoko Ono from 1969 to 1971, was unveiled as the newest exhibit at the Liverpool Beatles Museum last Thursday.
It was loaned to the museum by Gary Honniball, who paid £1,000 for it at auction when Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan bought the estate in 1989 and sold its contents.
Museum owner Roag Best said:
“He contacted us, told us that it was just sitting in his house, gathering dust, (and asked), ‘Would we like to put it on display in the museum?’
“We thought, ‘Well, it’s a bit quirky, it’s not what we’d normally display but who’s to say what you should and shouldn’t display, so, come on, we’ll give it a go’.”
The toilet bowl has a blue and white floral design.
Fans were invited to see the new exhibit but only found out it was Lennon’s toilet when it was unveiled.
The reveal was met with laughs, smiles and a comment of: “It’s John’s john.”
Two toilets were sold at auction from Tittenhurst Park, a 71-acre home sold to Ringo Starr after Lennon and Ono moved to New York.
Mr Best said the other toilet was sold more recently for £15,000.
The home in Sunninghill, Berkshire, was where Lennon composed Imagine.
Mr Best said: “I think visitors to the museum are going to think, ‘That’s really quirky,’ or ‘Are these guys mad?’
“But we like to do things outside the box so it fits in perfectly.
“It’s a very, very fancy loo and it’s possibly the most expensive loo in the country.”
The item joins a host of other memorabilia on display at the Mathew Street museum owned by Mr Best, who is the brother of the Beatles’ original drummer Pete.