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Hams Hall is a place near
Lea Marston
Lea Marston is a village and civil parish on the River Tame in Warwickshire, England, about south-west of Atherstone. Lea Marston is close to the county boundary with Birmingham and about east of Sutton Coldfield.
Manor
The Domesday Book of ...
in
North Warwickshire
North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Warwickshire, West Midlands, England. Outlying settlements in the borough include the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Co ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, named after the former Hams Hall
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
. A
power station at Hams Hall was constructed and operated in the late 1920s; a further two power stations began generating electricity in the 1940s and 1950s. By 1993 all three power stations had been closed and demolished and an industrial park Hams Hall Distribution Park was built. An
intermodal rail terminal ''Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal'' also operates at the site.
Hams Hall Estate
The Hams Hall Estate and what is modern day
Saltley
Saltley is an inner-city area of Birmingham, east of the city centre. The area is part of the Washwood Heath ward, and was previously part of the Nechells ward. It is part of the Ladywood constituency in the city.
History
Saltley was originally ...
was owned by the Adderley family for over 262 years. The name of the estate was derived from the fact that the land lay in a great hook (ham) of the
River Tame.
As Birmingham and the
Black Country
The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...
developed, the estate faced two problems: loss of land to the west, and lack of water from the river due to industrial pollution. Thus, after
Robert Rawlinson
Sir Robert Rawlinson KCB (28 February 1810 – 31 May 1898) was an English engineer and sanitarian.
Early life
He was born at Bristol. His father was a mason and builder at Chorley, Lancashire, and he himself began his engineering educatio ...
's report on the condition of Birmingham in 1848 suggesting the need for a public park,
Charles Adderley, 1st Baron Norton
Charles Bowyer Adderley, 1st Baron Norton (2 August 181428 March 1905) was a British Conservative politician.
Background and education
Charles Bowyer Adderley was the eldest son of Charles Clement Adderley (d. 1818), offspring of an old Sta ...
donated of land to create
Adderley Park
Adderley Park is an area in the east of Birmingham, England. Charles Adderley MP donated of land to create the park, which he managed privately from 1855 to 1864. The park was opened to the public on 30 August 1856. At the park's entrance were ...
,
[ which he managed privately from 1855 to 1864. He also donated land for the construction of St Saviour's Church, ]St Peter's College, Saltley
St Peter's College, Saltley was a school and teacher training establishment located in Saltley, Birmingham, England. Today the former college building has now been refurbished and sub-divided into a multi-use facility, combining homes, offices an ...
and the reformatory
A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concerns ...
on the Fordrough, later called Norton Boys' Home. In 1879 Lord Norton sold Whitacre Lodge to the city for the construction of the Shustoke Reservoir, the largest single source of water for Birmingham until the Elan/Claerwen scheme was completed.[
Following the death of Charles Adderley in 1905, the residual estate was put up for sale in 1911 to pay ]death duties
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
. Initially purchased by an American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
shipping magnate, he dismantled the house in 1921. It was reassembled as Bledisloe Lodge, a hall of residence for students at the Royal Agricultural College
;(from Virgil's Georgics)"Caring for the Fieldsand the Beasts"
, established = 2013 - University status – College
, type = Public
, president = King Charles
, vice_chancellor = Peter McCaffery
, students ...
, Cirencester
Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...
at Coates, Gloucestershire
Coates is a village and civil parish situated in Cotswold District,Gloucestershire, England. It is around west of Cirencester and close to Cirencester Park, part of the Bathurst Estate. It is the nearest village to the source of the river Tha ...
. Today the lodge is a private residence, while descendants of the Adderleys lived in Fillongley Hall until 2006, when the 8th Lord Norton sold the Estate for £5 million and moved, together with his family, to Switzerland.
Hams Hall Power Station
The City of Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
bought land at Hams Hall, and built an electricity generating station (Hams Hall A), from 1928. Located north of Coleshill Parkway railway station
Coleshill Parkway is a railway station at Hams Hall on the Birmingham to Peterborough railway line, serving Coleshill in Warwickshire, England. Sitting on the site of the former Coleshill station which closed in 1968, the current station was ...
, the location allowed easy access for coal supply trains from the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
mainline. Built under the direction of Richard Alexander Chattock (1865–1936), Birmingham City Electrical Engineer.[''Electric Relief'', J.P. Lethbridge, in ''Stand to'' (Journal of the Western Front Association), April 2007]
Two more stations (Hams Hall B and C) were later built on the site, reputedly the largest in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
at the time of their construction. The city's electricity generating and supply functions were nationalised in the late 1940s.
The Central Electricity Generating Board
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Januar ...
took over responsibility for the site from Birmingham and founded an environmental studies centre, re-erecting Lea Ford Cottage (a local medieval timber-framed building) there to preserve it. Still owned by site owner E.ON, it is now known as ''Hams Hall Environmental Studies Centre''. The area alongside the confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the River Blythe
The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the Borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is ...
and River Tame became the West Midland Bird Club
The West Midland Bird Club is the UK's largest regional ornithological society. It has been serving birdwatchers and ornithologists in the four English counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and (since its separation from the afo ...
's Ladywalk Reserve.
All three stations were closed and demolished in the 1990s. The land was cleared, on which was built ''Hams Hall Distribution Park'', with only electrical sub-stations remaining.
Hams Hall Distribution Park
After the Hams Hall Power station site was cleared, Powergen accepted various European and Central Government grants to allow a consortium of construction companies including Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll (as part of the CAMBBA consortium). It was listed on the L ...
to construct a new industrial estate
An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...
called Hams Hall Distribution Park,
The site includes road ( M42) and rail access (through the ''Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal'').
In 2011 the site housed clients including E.ON, Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
, BMW (engine manufacturing plant), DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
, ABB Group
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...
, Chubb, BEKO
Beko ( ; stylized as beko) is a Turkish major appliance and consumer electronics brand of Arçelik A.Ş. controlled by Koç Holding.
History
Beko Elektronik A.Ş. was founded by Vehbi Koç, the founder of Koç Holding (who also founded Arç ...
, EXEL
Exel was a supply chain and logistics company operating in North America and Europe, which became a subsidiary of the German firm Deutsche Post in 2005. It reported annual revenues of about $4.2 billion in February 2012.
History
The company ...
and Wincanton
Wincanton ( or ) is a small town and electoral ward in South Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. The town and electoral ward has a populati ...
.
Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal
The ''Hams Hall Channel Tunnel Freight Terminal'' was opened 11 July 1997 by the then deputy prime minister John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...
. As of 2010 the site was one of the main international intermodal terminals in the UK.
The site was originally operated by Parsec Europe Ltd.; in 2002 Associated British Ports
Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...
acquired the site lease.
The terminal is sited on the southern edge of Hams Hall business park; since 2004 it has had customs clearance to handle international traffic via the Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
; the site has storage for 6,000 TEU, and rail access is cleared to W10 vehicle gauge. There are also regular daily flows from Felixstowe. The area around Nuneaton and the Midlands has been referred to as the " Golden Triangle of Logistics". Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal is in this Golden Triangle and one of the busiest intermodal terminals.
See also
*Coleshill Parkway railway station
Coleshill Parkway is a railway station at Hams Hall on the Birmingham to Peterborough railway line, serving Coleshill in Warwickshire, England. Sitting on the site of the former Coleshill station which closed in 1968, the current station was ...
opened 2007 close to the rail freight terminal, south of the main distribution park
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
{{coord, 52.525, -1.708, type:city_region:GB-WAR, display=title
Geography of Warwickshire
Transport in Warwickshire