Hams Hall - Hams Hall Estate

Hams Hall Estate

The Hams Hall Estate and what is modern day Saltley 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 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's report on the condition of Birmingham in 1848 suggesting the need for public park, Charles Adderley, 1st Baron Norton donated 8 acres (0.032 km2) of land to create Adderley Park, which he managed privately from 1855 to 1864. He also donated land for the construction of St. Saviour's Church, St. Peter's College and the reformatory on the Fordrough, later called Norton Boys' Home. In 1879 Lord Norton sold Whitacre Lodge to the city for the construction of the 80 acres (0.32 km2) 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. Initially purchased by an American 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, Cirencester at Coates, Gloucestershire. 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.