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This article is about Haden Hill Park, situated at Haden Hill, between Halesowen and Old Hill in the West Midlands, England, on the Southern edge of the Black Country. Within the ground are the sixteenth and seventeen century Haden Hall (also known as Haden Hill Old Hall), the Victorian Haden Hill House and the Corngreaves Nature Reserve. The estate which comprises the core of the park was owned by the Haden/Barrs/Haden-Best/Bassano family for many hundreds of years. The Park itself was largely the creation of George Alfred Haden Haden-Best (1839-1921) and now covers approximately 30 hectares, the core of which was bought by the local council following a public subscription in 1922. The Park was the subject of a major restoration programme over the period 2000-2007, largely funded by the National Lottery.

The Park has been given a Green Flag Award every year since 2004 and also has been a Green Heritage Site winner. In addition, the park won the Black Country Hotel and Tourism Awards ('Small Visitor Attraction' category) in 2008.

Before 1877:early history
The Haden family had occupied the site of the present park for many years before the nineteenth century, possibly as far back as the thirteenth century. The family had been farmers and had prospered in the seventeenth and eighteenth Centuries by stint of advantageous marriage and investment in adjacent land. At the time the main family house was the building now known as Haden Hall, essentially a large farmhouse that had been extended and rebuilt over time but mostly is believed to date from the seventeenth century.

The first Haden to be styled 'gentleman' was Henry Haden (1633-1675) who was succeeded by his son Thomas (1684-1756) and then by Thomas's son John (1723-1796). John married late in life to a young woman, Mary Kendrick, leaving one child, Anna Eliza. John expressing a wish that you young wife should remarry on his death and this she did, to the Reverend George Barrs, an Evangelical protestant clergyman. As Anna Eliza (1790-1876) was herself to die childless, under the terms of John Haden's will, when Anna Eliza died, the estate passed to Eliza's half-brother, Alfred Barrs (1804-1877), son of Reverend George and Mary Barrs. When Alfred died childless shortly after inheriting the estate passed his nephew, to the son of his sister, George Alfred Haden Best (1839-1921). One of the conditions of inheritance was that Best should incorporate the name Haden into his surname, notwithstanding it already being a given name.

1877-1921: the time of George Alfred Haden Haden-Best
George Alfred Haden Haden-Best was born at nearby Corngreaves Hall in 1839; This was was a grand property dating from the late eighteenth Century and owned by the New British Iron Company who used it to house the managers of their nearby factory, one of whom was Haden-Best's father, Benjamin Best. He had married Emiline Barrs, but both had died relatively young, many years before Haden-Best came into his inheritance.

Haden-Best soon settled on a scheme of transforming from the estate surrounding Haden Hall from being a farm to becoming a house in an imitation of the grant style. A small cottage next to Haden Hall where Haden-Best had been living was demolished and a large Victoria House was built in its place. This new building included modern conveniences such as under floor heating, piped water, a bathroom, flush toilets and a gas supply. The Hall was retained as it was the home of Mary Barrs, second wife of Fredrick Barrs, eldest son of the Reverend George Barrs (1802-1875). It is probable that Mary Barrs confined herself to a part of the Hall were the remainder was left semi-derelict, almost certainly with the intention of demolishing the entire structure on her death and extending the new house. In the event, she lived to 1904 and this never happened.

In addition to the building of new house, the grounds were landscaped, mimicking the style of the great parks of the aristocracy. Lakes were built at the top and bottom of the park and attractive walks and gardens created. The park was designed to emphasise the views to the South, to the Clent Hills while obscuring the less scenic aspect to the North where the industrial landscape of the Black Country dominated the aspect.

Haden-Best was a prominent figure in the local community, funding education and teaching in the local Sunday School. He never married but did adopt two local girls, Emily Bryant and Alice Cockin. They were the children of local families, and he took them into his home and bought them up as his own. They were given an upper class lifestyle, and Emily remained with Mr Best until his death in 1921. Alice married John Shaw, a local doctor, and they lived in Haden Hall for a while after the death of Mary Barrs.

When Haden-Best died in 1921, the estate passed to his nephews, the children of his sister Emiline (1836-1892) who had married an Italian Evangelical Protestant businessman called Walter Bassano (died 1903). Like Haden-Best, Bassano was a benefactor of the local community, in his case he been largely responsible for the financing the building of Holy Trinity Church, Old Hill in the 1870s. Bassano sons, Haden-Best's nephews, Alfred and Charles, decided to dispose of much the estate, meaning that Haden-Best was to be the only owner-occupier Haden Hill House has ever had.

1922 to date: public ownership
The estate was put up for public sale by the Bassano brothers. Following a public subscription, 55 acre of parkland, Haden Hill House and Haden Hall were bought for £8,500 by for the use of the local community. The title deeds were handed to Rowley Regis Urban District Council on 14 October 1922, and the park was then opened one week later, on 21 October 1922. The council also bought some adjacent land to incorporate into the park: to the east, Temple Meadow and to the South West, the nine acre field.

A bandstand was donated by local residents, was erected in time for the opening ceremony. An outdoor swimming pool was built behind the houses in 1926 and survived for forty years. The Hall was in a poor sate of repair when the park was purchased but a restoration programme was begun in 1930 with the result that the Hall was able to open as tea rooms in 1937. During World War II, part of the Hall was used as a refuge for evacuees.

By 1970, the Haden Hill House was in a poor state of repair and Haden Hall again was essentially derelict. In 1977 the park and its grounds began a major improvement programme. Extensive restoration to Haden Hill House was carried out, but attempts to renovate the Hall were undermined by a major fire which left the property dangerous and its future uncertain. The Council were however reluctant to demolish the Hall owing to its historic importance and major renovation and rebuilding programme was begun in 1990. Progress though was slow due to a lack of finance.

This was to change when the National Lottery Heritage Fund urban parks programme awarded £2,151,000 to the park in 1999 to protect the park’s long-term future and restore historic features. The programme of work involved bringing the Hall into use and renovation the water features and gardens, often bringing back lost features of Haden-Best's designs. The programme was completed in 2007.

General Layout
The park is approximately crescent shaped, the core parkland running from the North, the site of the two houses, to the South where the boating lake can be found. The nature reserves extends from the South of the park in a westerly direction towards Corngreaves Hall. The River Stour runs alongside the Southern border of the nature reserve.

Haden Hall
Haden Hall is almost semi-detached to the Victorian house. It is sometimes called the 'Tudor Hall' but it is neither Tudor or nor actually a Hall, The name Hall would suggest a medieval origin as medieval manor houses were called halls, even if the buildings were rebuilt later and simply retained the name. However it is known that Haden Hall or any earlier building on site was not a manor house or home of a lord of the manor. The Hall was probably originally built around the late 1600s as the home of a moderately wealthy Haden family In the late 1600s they began to call themselves gentlemen as the family wealth and status grew. Architectural evidence suggests that the Hall was later split into two dwellings. By the time Mr Haden-Best inherited in the 1870s he wished to build a new house to live in and the Hall was then occupied by his aging aunt and later by his adopted daughter and her family.

The Hall has been rebuilt and restored many times over its lifetime and is there today today is largely a copy of the building which once stood there. It is not known how much of the historic fabric remains.

In the Eighteenth Century, a large Dovecote built to the east of Haden Hall.

Haden Hill House
George Alfred Haden Haden-Best inherited the estate in 1877 and work began on his new house soon after, although it was probably 1879 by the time he moved in. There would have been at least five bedrooms in the house as well as extensive servants quarters. It is thought that Haden-Best's intention, on the death of his aunt, was to demolish Haden Hall and extend his house, so that the front door would occupy an imposing central position. Architectural evidence for this is the absence of quoins on the corner of the House to the right hand side of the front door.

On the north side of the house was a separate complex of buildings. This comprised a carriage house (with living rooms on the first floor), a harness room with storage loft, a corn room with cellar and loft, stabling, a cow byre, washing shed, a coal shed, stables and a barn.

On the western side of the old duck pond were vineries, peach houses, ferneries, palm houses and potting sheds. A stoke house and three Quorn boilers which provided the heating for the glasshouses.

Today, Haden Hill House is open to the public all year round. Guided tours of the buildings are available and plays, workshops and dances take place too. Authentic Victorian furniture and instruments are on display.

Grass bowl
At the centre of the park, is a natural valley which has been left open. In the days of Haden-Best, this was used for haymaking. In the time of the public park, it accommodated a bandstand and a football field. Neither are there today.

Pets graves
By the side of a pathway below Haden Hill House there are two monuments where family pets were buried. One, the grave of a dog bears no recognisable inscription. The other is the grave of three cats and the inscription reads: Tip - 1877, Floss - 1898, Fluff - 1899.

Pools
A pool has been present to the west of the house since before Mr Best's time. This has been altered several times, and was restored with a feeding platform as part of the National Lottery Project.

In addition, at the Southern end of the park, Haden-Best constructed a large pool known as the Boating Lake, with two rustic bridges and a boat house. Today, the boat house and one the bridges are no longer there, but the other bridge survives as was restored as part of the National Lottery Project.

Ha Ha
A Ha ha was built before the estate came into the ownership of Haden-Best, separating the gardens and terrace of Haden Hall from the farmland beyond. This was removed during the 1960s to facilitate park maintenance but restored as part of the National Lottery Project.

Corngreaves nature reserve
Following the closure of the Corngreaves Golf Course in 2000, a programme of tree-planting was undertaken to create a nature reserve which has been incorporated into the park.

Hermitage
Near the Boating Lake is the last remnant of a hermitage built by Haden-Best. Although this was never occupied, this was a reflection of a largely eighteenth century fashion for grand house to accommodate Garden Hermits within their grounds; such hermits would be encouraged to dress like druids and remain permanently on site, where they could be fed, cared for, and consulted for advice, or viewed for entertainment. The presence of this hermitage is testimony to Haden-Best attempt to emulate the great houses.

Swimming pool
A unheated open-air swimming pool was opened in 1922, in land to the immediate west of the stables block. This was closed in 1966 and no trace remains.

Sons of Rest
On a slope below the houses was a building known as the Sons of Rest, where retired men would meet. The name derived from the The Sons of Rest Movement which was a social organisation that has provided leisure facilities for men of retirement age in and around Birmingham and the Black Country in the English West Midlands since 1927, and more recently for women as well. At its peak, the movement had 29 buildings. The Haden Hill Park building was opened in 1937 and destroyed by fire in 2000.

Bandstand
A bandstand was donated when the park entered public ownership and sites in the grass bowl. It was very popular during the early days of the park hosting weekly performances through the summer, especially on Sunday evenings. It was rebuilt in 1938 and removed in 1967.

Ornamental pools
In addition to the Boating Lake, Haden-Best constructed three small pools higher up the park which fed the Boating Lake through a series of Waterfalls. This have now been filled in.

Football fields
The have been two football fields laid out in the grounds. One was in the grassy bowl, made in 1949, the other in the 9-acre field and was opened in 1953. Both had been discontinued by the 1970s.

Par 3 golf course
In 1997, a Municipal nine-hole Par 3 Golf Course was created on land associated with Corngreaves Hall, to the immediate west of the none-acre field which had been incorporated into the Park in 1922. In the nineteenth century a mineral railway had run across this Land connecting various collieries with the Dudley Canal. Although this railways had long-since been removed, some embankment was left and this was used as one of the tee locations with the hole in question being 100 yards away in the valley below.

In 1985, the nine acre field itself was incorporated into the golf course, making it an eighteen hole course, again all holes being par 3.

The entire course was closed in 1999 and planted over with trees, turned into a nature reserve and incorporated back into the park, now including the land formerly belonging to Corngreaves Hall.

Myths associated with Haden Hall and the Park

 * One story is that a tunnel exists which joins Haden Hall with Halesowen Abbey, two miles away. There are at least five insuperable objections to this notion. Firstly, the Hall mostly postdates the dissolution of Halesowen Abbey, which took place in 1538, secondly, the construction of a tunnel of this length was beyond the technological capability of anyone in medieval England (there is no record of any tunnel of greater than a mile in length existing in England in this period), thirdly, it would provide no value proportional to the amount of effort needed for is creation, fourthly, there is no mention in contemporaneous records of it construction and fifthly, no archaeological trace of such a passageway has ever been found.


 * The wooded area towards the lower of the park is sometimes referred to as Nursery Wood, this is associated with the sightings of the ghost of Eleanor, a beautiful young woman in her mid ages lived at Hayseech Mill (bordering the estate), and in love affair with a monk from Hailes Abbey. The parents of Eleanor and the Abbot of the Abbey supposedly tried to prevent the lovers from being together but they both escaped, using the mythical tunnel from Haden Hall.The story recounts that they were later caught, and following his capture, the Monk was walled up alive in a room in the cellars. Down the centuries the ghost of Eleanor has supposedly been seen gliding through the wood (unsuccessfully) searching for her lost love.


 * It has also suggested that the ghost of Annie Eliza Haden (1790-1876) haunts Haden Hall. She never married and was the last family member to be born with the Haden surname.

Haden Hill Leisure Centre
In 1976, modern leisure centre was build of land to the North of Haden Hill House, on the piece of land known as Temple Meadow, purchased by the Council in 1922 and partly incorporated into the park. In the early years of the leisure centre there was also a outdoor ski slope, but this was short-lived. Haden Hill Leisure Centre offers a Gym, two Dance/Fitness Studios, a Sauna & Steam Room, an Indoor Cycling Studio, a Sports Hall, several Squash Courts and two swimming pools.

The Leisure Centre hosted the 1981 John Courage English Professional Snooker Championship.

Corngreaves Hall
Built in the late 18th century, close to the junction of Hawne Lane and Belle Vale, the Hall was originally the home of James Attwood, the local ironmaster.

The distinctive castle-style Gothic frontage was added in the early 19th century. In 1826, James Attwood’s son, John, sold the estate to the British Iron Company. The Hall then became the manager’s house until the company went bankrupt in 1893. George Haden-Best was born at this house in 1839, his father being Manager at the time.

In the early 1950s, Corngreaves Hall became the property of Rowley Regis Borough Council (later to become Sandwell Council). The land belonging to the house was used a golf course from 1972 to 1999 and then turned into a nature and made part of the park. The Hall was derelict from the 1960s onwards and was sold to developers and converted into luxury flats in the early 2000s.

Old Hill Cricket Club and Old Hill Tennis Club
To the North West of the Park is the ground of Old Hill Cricket Club and the courts of Old Hill Tennis Club. These sites, formerly owned by Mr Haden Best. were leased out for sporting use in 1884 and were purchased by a charitable trust in 1934 for the benefit of the respective clubs.

Old Hill Cricket Club is one of the most successful clubs in England, winning the ECB National Club Cricket Championship at Lord's in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1993, and being runners-up in 1989. Its former players include seven internationals.

External resources

 * A guided tour around the Park, by John Billingham a friend of Haden Hill Estate.
 * A guided walk with emphasis on the Nature Reserve
 * 'Meet George Alfred Haden Haden-Best' - a film about Haden Hill House
 * A film about Haden Hall
 * Photos on Flickr
 * Best's Angels - a site about the History of the estate, with special reference to Haden-Best's adopted daughters

Category:Country houses in the West Midlands (county) Category:Historic house museums in the West Midlands (county) Category:Buildings and structures in Sandwell Category:Parks and open spaces in the West Midlands (county)