The Liverpool home where the late George Harrison lived during his childhood has officially been designated as a historical site.
The BBC reports that a “blue plaque” — a marker installed by the English Heritage charity — was unveiled May 24 at No. 12 Arnold Grove in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree. It’s one of the first official plaques to be placed on a property outside London.
The former Beatles member wrote of his house in his memoir, “It was O.K. that house — very pleasant being little and it was always sunny in summer,” according to the BBC.
His widow, Olivia Harrison, was at the unveiling of the plaque. According to The Guardian, she said, “This … 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. “He left a footprint on this world, on this country, in this city and on this street.”
She told the BBC that George had good memories of growing up in a “very tight-knit, secure family life.”
“There was something about these small family places and how you learn to respect other people’s space,” she said. “He had a freedom where he could go run down the alley and visit his nan and then back home. That was a big deal for a little five-year-old kid.”
“This was his cocoon, and out of that came such an incredible man with such vision and compassion and sensibility.”
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