A UNIQUE fireplace which  once adorned one of the  finest country houses and  now acts as a doorway to a Birkenhead cabaret club is for sale.

The huge inglenook  fireplace is being sold by the  Kingsland Cabaret  Restaurant on Borough  Road, Birkenhead  after they  decided to modernise their  entrance.

Now conservationists and  historians are hoping it will  be bought and its future  secured.

The fire surround  was  commissioned to furnish the  dining room of Dawpool, a  country house at  Thurstaston, built in 1882 by  shipping magnate Thomas  Henry Ismay, founder of the  White Star Line, which later  built the  Titanic.

The house lasted less than  50 years and was demolished  in 1927, at which point the  lavish fireplace was sold,  along with another.

While one can be found in  Portmeirion, the other has  for many years marked the  entrance to Kingsland –  largely hidden by a false  ceiling.

The owners put it on  internet auction site eBay  with a starting bid of £20,000.  So far it has not attracted any  formal bids but Terry Lyons,  director of the club, said they  had been approached by a  number of possible buyers   and were deciding when or  whether to re-list it.

He  added: “We know it has  this architectural heritage,  and this being the 100th  anniversary of the Titanic,  thought there might be some  interest in it.”

Chris Costelloe,  Conservation Adviser for the  Victorian Society, said: “This  wonderful fireplace with its  solid marble columns is part  of Merseyside’s heritage and  deserves to remain intact  and in the Wirral.

“It would be tragic if this  unique fireplace was broken  up or sold abroad.”

The Victorian Society has  also written to Wirral  Council, the Liverpool  Museums and to the Victoria  and Albert Museum in  London urging them to  secure the fireplace’s   future.