Ashmore Park | |
---|---|
![]() St. Alban's Church, Ashmore Park | |
Location within the West Midlands | |
Population | 6,734 |
OS grid reference | SJ9601 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Wolverhampton |
Postcode district | WV11 2 |
Dialling code | 01902 |
Police | West Midlands |
Fire | West Midlands |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
Ashmore Park is a large housing estate in Wednesfield, England. It has been part of the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands since 1966, when the majority of Wednesfield was incorporated into Wolverhampton. It forms part of the Wednesfield North ward of the City of Wolverhampton council. The estate consists predominantly of council-built houses, flats and bungalows from the 1950s.
Ashmore Park was initially one of the wooded estates Lady Wulfruna transferred to St. Peter's Fold to allow the park to generate income and food. A moat-surrounded farmhouse [1] was built here sometime during the mid-14th century. Three-quarters of the moat still exists today in the "bottom shops" precinct. [2]
A plaque placed by Wolverhampton Civic Society and Ashmore Park Community Association on The Hub Community Centre states Ashmore Park Colliery operated from 1875 to 1948 and employed a total of over 230 people below and above ground. Ordnance Survey mapping shows the colliery linked by a mineral tramway to a basin on the Wyrley and Essington Canal. The land was owned by the Duke of Cleveland. [3] A reminder of the area's mining history arose in 2019 when melting snow revealed a shaft near a children's playground. The Coal Authority carried out work to seal the shaft and compact the filling material. [4]
1,500 homes were initially planned for Ashmore Park by Wednesfield Urban District Council in 1954 as part of Staffordshire County Council's overspill housing scheme for Wolverhampton. [5] The first house was opened on 16 June 1955 by the Chairman of Staffordshire County Council, Alderman A G B Owen and it was reported that 6,500 people would be housed in 1,750 homes. [6] A shopping precinct and dwellings were opened by Cannock constituency MP Jennie Lee in September 1958. [7]
The Dean of Wolverhampton probably used the homestead in his role as Dean (landlord) of Ashmore Park.[ citation needed ] The original farmhouse was removed when a new one was built in the early 19th century.[ citation needed ] In 1957 authorities demolished that farmhouse and built a library near its site.[ citation needed ]
According to the 2001 United Kingdom census, Ashmore Park had a total population of 6,734. Of these, 27.6% of its residents were between the ages of 25 and 44 years old, while 24.3% reported being between the ages of 60 and 74. The neighbourhood is not ethnically diverse, with 97.4% of its residents classified as Caucasian; the largest ethnic minority group is Black Caribbean, representing just 0.9% of the population. [8]
54.5% of the 2,968 households in the neighbourhood were owner-occupied, while 39.4% of homes were council houses. Ashmore Park had an unemployment rate of 7.1%, ranking above the Wolverhampton average of 5.3%. Of those identified as economically inactive, 24.4% were retired. And of all households in the neighbourhood, only 11.1% were not considered deprived at all, while 7.2% were overcrowded. [8]
Christianity is the area's predominant religion, with 81.6% of the population identifying as Christian. 9.4% of residents reported that they did not have a religious affinity. [8]
The estate was served by Ashmore Park County Primary School and Danesfield Primary School. The two merged in 1983 to form Danesmore Primary, [9] but this closed in February 1993. [10] Both schools have since been demolished.
Today a secondary school, Coppice Performing Arts School, serves the estate, with three primary schools: Oak Meadow Primary School, Corpus Christi Catholic School, and St. Alban's Primary School.
At the heart of the estate is a large green park consisting of a children's play area and several sports facilities, including a skate park, multi-sports pitch, BMX track, and bowling green. The park is also home to the Wednesfield Aces and Wednesfield Dragons cycle speedway teams. The park was built on top of a slag heap left over from mining activity in the area.[ citation needed ]
There are two main shopping areas, known locally as the "top" and "bottom" shops due to their geographic location. The "bottom shop" precinct houses a mix of local and independent businesses and underwent an extensive facelift during the early 2000s that included work to preserve the historic moat site. [11]
In 2014 a revamped community centre opened called The Hub at Ashmore Park with many facilities for the local community to use. The library which was located next to the "bottom shops" shopping precinct was closed and merged into the hub, whilst many other libraries were closed or had reduced opening hours in Wolverhampton.
There are two public houses and a social club on the estate: The True Briton, The Ashmore Inn and Corpus Christi Social Club.
In 2014 more than 350 members of the local community signed a petition to save The Ashmore Inn public house from being closed and turned into a retail store. The petition succeeded in having The Ashmore Inn listed as an Asset of Community Value. In 2016 a Coop Food convenience store and Tanning Salon were opened on adjacent land sharing the car park with the public house, whilst the bookmakers previously there moved to the "bottom shops" shopping precinct.
The nearest train stations to Ashmore Park are Bloxwich North, Bloxwich, and Wolverhampton.
Several bus services serve Ashmore Park, including the 57, 59, and 69 lines.
The 59 bus, which is operated by National Express West Midlands, runs the most frequent service. It provides regular access to the estate from Wolverhampton via Heath Town, New Cross Hospital and Wednesfield roughly every six minutes during the day (Monday-Saturday) and every 12 minutes in the evenings, on Sundays, and bank holidays.
The 69 bus, also operated by National Express West Midlands, provides service to the lower zone of the estate between Wolverhampton and Walsall via Heath Town, New Cross Hospital, Wood End, Coppice Farm, New Invention, Beechdale, and Reedswood Retail Park. This service operates every 30 minutes during the day (Monday-Saturday) and hourly during the day on Sunday.
Similar to the 69 bus the 57 bus service, operated by Diamond West Midlands (Rotala), serves the lower zone of the estate. It runs from Wolverhampton to Bilston via Heath Town, Park Village, Wednesfield, Wood End, Lyndale Park, and Willenhall. Hourly service operates during the daytime, Monday-Saturday.
Walsall is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Birmingham, 7 miles (11 km) east of Wolverhampton and 9 miles (14 km) from Lichfield.
Willenhall is a historic market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, and partly in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire. It lies upon the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country.
Bloxwich is a market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills.
Wednesfield is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, It is 2 miles (3.2 km) east-northeast of Wolverhampton city centre and about 10 miles (16 km) from Birmingham and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was historically within the county of Staffordshire.
Codsall is a large village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is situated 5 miles northwest of Wolverhampton and 13 miles east-southeast of Telford. It forms part of the boundary of the Staffordshire-West Midlands County border, along with Perton, the village is almost contiguous with Wolverhampton with very small amounts of greenbelt still separating the two settlements.
Heath Town is a suburban area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, to the east of the city centre. It is also a ward of City of Wolverhampton Council. The ward forms part of the Wolverhampton North East parliamentary constituency.
Great Wyrley is a village and civil parish in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It forms a built up area with nearby Cheslyn Hay, Churchbridge, Landywood and Little Wyrley. It lies 6 miles north of Walsall and a similar distance from Wolverhampton. Cannock is directly north of the village. It had a population of 11,060 at the 2011 census.
Wednesfield North is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands. As the name suggests, it covers the northern parts of the town of Wednesfield. It borders the Wednesfield South, Heath Town and Fallings Park wards, as well as South Staffordshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. It forms part of the Wolverhampton North East constituency.
Fallings Park is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, and a ward of Wolverhampton City Council. It is situated in the northeast of the city, bordering South Staffordshire and the Wednesfield North, Heath Town, Bushbury South and Low Hill and Bushbury North wards. It forms part of the Wolverhampton North East constituency. Fallings Park ward covers over 5,000 properties in the following areas: Longknowle, Newbolds, Scotlands, Underhill, Willows. The population of the Wolverhampton Ward taken at the 2011 census was 12,410.
Pelsall is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. Forming part of the borough's border with Staffordshire, Pelsall is located 4 miles north of Walsall, midway between the towns of Bloxwich and Brownhills and 4 miles northwest of Aldridge. The southern edge of Cannock Chase is 6 miles to the north. Pelsall is also 8 miles southwest of Lichfield and 8 miles northeast of Wolverhampton.
Bentley is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall located around Junction 10 of the M6 Motorway. It is also a rural village of houses towards its eastern sides. It shares borders with the areas of Willenhall, Beechdale, Ashmore Park, Pleck, Darlaston and Alumwell.
Landywood is a village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Landywood is part of the South Staffordshire ward named "Great Wyrley Landywood", It lies 3 miles north of Bloxwich, 3 miles south from Cannock and 6 miles north of Walsall.
Cheslyn Hay is a former mining village and civil parish in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is 3 miles south of Cannock, 10 miles north of Walsall, 9 miles northeast of Wolverhampton, and 13 miles south of Stafford. The village forms a built-up area with the villages and areas of Great Wyrley, Landywood, and Churchbridge.
Rushall is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is centred on the main road between Walsall and Lichfield. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book but has mostly developed since the 1920s. Rushall was historically a part of the county of Staffordshire before it was incorporated with much of the old Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District into the modern-day Walsall district.
Springfield is an area of Wolverhampton, England immediately north east of the city centre. It was the home of the Springfield Brewery from 1873 until 1991. The brewery site has been redeveloped by The University of Wolverhampton for its architecture and built environment 'super-campus', which includes the National Brownfield Institute. There are modern student residential blocks, one of which is the tallest structure in Wolverhampton. For local government, Springfield is within the ward of Heath Town.
Woodcross is a residential area of Coseley, West Midlands, England. It is set within the City of Wolverhampton, though the area traditionally existed within the boundaries of Sedgley and later Coseley until 1966.
Bentley railway station was a railway station built by the Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway in 1872, and was operated by the Midland Railway from 1876 onwards. Situated on Bloxwich Lane, it served the area of Bentley, located between Willenhall and Walsall in the English West Midlands. The station closed in 1898.
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Birmingham, the population in 2021 was 263,700.
Pheasey is a residential area of Walsall Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands of England, often considered to be part of Great Barr. The area was predominantly developed for housing, as the Pheasey Estate, in the 1930s, but work was not completed until after the Second World War. Barr Beacon, a hill, is a local landmark.
The Lodge Farm estate is located in the area of Short Heath in the town of Willenhall, which is in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.