Alderley Park

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Alderley Park
Manchester Science Parks
Alderley Park RSC plaque.jpg
National Chemical Landmark at Alderley Park
Cheshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Cheshire
Former namesICI Pharmaceuticals Division, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca
General information
TypeScience park, former ICI research centre
Address Nether Alderley, Cheshire, SK10 4TG
Coordinates 53°16′16″N2°13′59″W / 53.271°N 2.233°W / 53.271; -2.233
Elevation95 m (312 ft)
Completed1957
Inaugurated1957
ClientICI Pharmaceuticals
Dimensions
Other dimensions21.5 hectares

Alderley Park was a country estate at Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England, between Macclesfield and Knutsford. It was the residence of the Stanley family of Alderley from the 1500s. It became the headquarters of ICI Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s. It was purchased from AstraZeneca by Bruntwood in 2014. The site has an international reputation as a home for bio and life sciences.

Contents

The Aldlerley New Hall was constructed in brick with a stone facade for Baroness Maria and John, 7th Baronet (later 1st Baron) Stanley. Building started in 1818 on a site in the south of the park. In 1931, the house was severely damaged by fire and left empty for nearly twenty years until converted in 1950 by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) to serve as the base for their new pharmaceutical division. The gardens and some outbuildings have been preserved and many thousands of trees planted.

History

The manor of Over Alderley came into the Stanley family when heiress Elizabeth Weever married John Stanley, a brother of the Earl of Derby. In the 1580s John Stanley's descendant, Thomas Stanley, built a mansion house on a moated site near the mill at Nether Alderley. Thomas died in 1591.

The adjacent manor of Nether Alderley had been confiscated by the crown in 1508 from the estate of Sir William Stanley after his conviction and execution for supporting Perkin Warbeck. It was sold in 1556 to Sir Edward Fitton of Gawsworth who sold it on for £2000 to Thomas Stanley, jnr in 1602. [1] Thomas was knighted by King James in 1603. The Stanley family subsequently occupied the hall for around two hundred years until it was severely damaged by fire in 1779; part of the old hall survives, dating from the 17th century. [2]

The correspondent Hon. Maria Josepha and the explorer John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, married in 1796. They lived here for fifty years and there were 11 children of the marriage, with sons who were twins and seven daughters surviving to become adults. [3] The 7th Baronet and Baroness had commissioned a new hall to be constructed in 1818, in the south of the estate on a site then occupied by Park House. The new house grew to a size of sixty bedrooms and six entertaining rooms, of which only one room, with its oak panelling and coats of arms intact, remains. Behind the house a walled garden and a water garden were created and the mill pond enlarged.

The new hall was occupied by further generations of the Stanley family until 1931, when it too was damaged by fire during the occupation of The 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley, and had to be partially demolished and left unoccupied. The sixth Lord's finances had suffered from the effects of two expensive divorces, gambling losses and death duties, and in 1938 he decided to sell the estate piecemeal, involving the disposal of 77 farms and 166 houses. No offers were received for the hall itself and it stood empty for nearly twenty years.

The 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley hosted the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and his cabinet minister, Winston Churchill, at Alderley Park in the early 1900s. Churchill planted a sweet chestnut tree near the Tenant's Hall, known since as the Churchill Tree. [4]

Structure

The site is north-east of the Monk's Heath Crossroads between the A537 and A34. Before the M6 opened in the early 1960s, the A34 was the main thoroughfare to the north-west. The ICI site was accessed to the west from the former A34; the A34 Alderley Edge Bypass opened on 19 November 2010.

Business use

ICI

In 1950 the dilapidated hall and 350 acres (140 ha) of surrounding parkland were purchased, with planning permission to develop, by ICI Pharmaceuticals for £55,000. Work began in 1957 on a site by Radnor Mere (the enlarged mill pond) to provide office and laboratory facilities, initially for ICI and latterly for AstraZeneca (after ICI Pharmaceuticals became Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in 1993), and which came to house some 3,500 staff. It became a global lead centre for cancer research and a number of anti-cancer treatments were developed at the site including Nolvadex, Zoladex, Casodex, Arimidex and Iressa. The ground-breaking anaesthetic Diprivan was discovered in the laboratories in 1973.

Alderley House and Sir James Black Conference Centre AlderleyHouseFront.jpg
Alderley House and Sir James Black Conference Centre

In 1963 a new Alderley House was built as the commercial headquarters (it was demolished in 2015). The original Tenants' Hall was used a hospital in the Great War and was once named the Sir James Black Conference Centre in honour of the Nobel Prize-winning discoverer of beta-blockers; as of 2022 it houses a pub called the Churchill Tree. [5] The gardens and the woodlands have been restored and the nearby Grade II listed Home Farm buildings preserved. The latter includes coach-houses, cottages and barns of hand-made English orange brick and a six-sided columbarium or dovecote. [6] [7]

AstraZeneca

In March 2013, AstraZeneca announced plans to cease R&D work at Alderley Park. A total of 1,600 jobs were to be relocated over three years, mainly to Cambridge, but the company planned to continue non-R&D work at the site. [8] In March 2014, Alderley Park was purchased by Manchester Science Parks – a partnership between Manchester's academic centres and local councils, and investment company Bruntwood. [9]

Redevelopment

In February 2016, planning consent was granted for a £160m masterplan to re-develop the Park which will include significant investment into re-purposing the bioscience campus to one of multiple occupancy, up to 275 homes, a farm shop, village shop, gastropub and new leisure facilities. Construction of the first two phases of houses by PH Homes and PJ Livesey commenced in 2017. [10] Robert Adam, one of the architects for PH Homes' Alderley Park development, was awarded the 2017 Driehaus Architecture Prize at the University of Notre Dame, the highest value architecture award in the world. [11]

As of 2017, over 150 companies are based at Alderley Park, including Royal London, the Medicines Discovery Catapult [12] and the AMR Centre. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Stanley of Alderley</span> Barony in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Baron Stanley of Alderley, in the County of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1839 for the politician and landowner Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet. Upon his death in 1850, he was succeeded as 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley and 8th Baronet of Alderley Hall by his son Edward, who was a prominent Liberal politician and notably served as President of the Board of Trade, Postmaster General and had in 1848 been created Baron Eddisbury, of Winnington in the County Palatine of Chester, in his own right. His wife Henrietta was a prominent campaigner for women's education. After his death, the Stanley of Alderley and Eddisbury baronies remained united; most holders have since chosen to be known as Lord Stanley of Alderley. The 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley had a career in the Diplomatic Service; as he was childless he was succeeded by his younger brother, the 4th Baron. He was liberal member of parliament for Oldham. In 1909, the 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley acquired a further title when he succeeded his first cousin once removed, the Earl of Sheffield, according to a special remainder and thus inherited the title of 4th Baron Sheffield. After his death the titles passed to his son, the 5th Baron Stanley of Alderley. He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Eddisbury and also served as Governor of Victoria. His eldest son, the 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley, sold the family seat of Alderley Hall in 1938. He was married four times, the second time to Sylvia Ashley. On his death the titles passed to his younger brother, who preferred to be known as Lord Sheffield. He only held the titles for three months. As of 2013 the titles are held by the latter's cousin, the 9th Baron Stanley of Alderley, who succeeded his father in that year. He is the grandson of Oliver Hugh Stanley, youngest son of the 4th Baron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alderley Edge</span> Human settlement in England

Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. In 2011, it had a population of 4,780.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley</span> British politician

Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley,, known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician.

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Quantock Lodge is a grade II listed nineteenth-century Gothic revival mansion built by Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton (1798–1869), to the design of Henry Clutton. It is built from Cockercombe tuff and is located near Aley in the parish of Over Stowey in Somerset. It has variously been used as an estate, a sanatorium and a school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley</span>

John Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, known as Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet, from 1807 to 1839, was a British peer and politician.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire East</span> Borough and Unitary authority in England

Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach, Wilmslow, Handforth, Knutsford, Poynton, Bollington, Alsager and Nantwich. The council is based in the town of Sandbach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Nether Alderley</span> Church in Cheshire, England

St Mary's Church is an Anglican church at the end of a lane to the south of the village of Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England. It dates from the 14th century, with later additions and a major restoration in the late-19th century. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

Winnington Hall is a former country house in Winnington, now a suburb of Northwich, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The building is in effect two houses joined, an older modest timber-framed house, and a newer, more elegant, stone house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nether Alderley</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alderley Old Hall</span> Historic site in Cheshire, England

Alderley Old Hall is the remaining part of a former 17th-century manor house near the village of Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England. It stands adjacent to the mill pond of Nether Alderley Mill, a loop of which acts as a moat. The hall is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Alderley Edge is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains 30 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest grade, one is listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II. The parish contains the village of Alderley Edge, which became a dormitory settlement for workers in Manchester following the arrival of the railway in 1842. Included in the listed buildings are mansions for the more wealthy businessmen. In the countryside surrounding the village are listed houses, cottages, and farm buildings. Within the village, in addition to houses, the listed buildings include a former railway hotel, churches, a school, a bank, a drinking fountain, a war memorial, and a garage.

Nether Alderley is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains 56 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest grade, four are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II. The parish contains the village of Nether Alderley. The largest house in the parish was the Old Hall which was damaged by fire in 1779. This was replaced on a different site by Park House in Alderley Park. This was in turn damaged by fire in 1931, and was demolished in 1933. Much of the park has since been used by a major pharmaceutical company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Frontiers Science Park</span> Science park, former research centre in Harlow, Essex

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley</span>

Maria Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley was a British letter writer and liberal advocate.

References

  1. ↑ "Stanley of Alderley" . Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  2. ↑ Historic England. "The Old Hall (1139591)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Stern, Marvin. "Stanley, Lady Maria Josepha". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74489.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ↑ "Alderley Park / The Stanley Family - Nether Alderley Parish Council, Cheshire, UK". www.netheralderleyparish.com. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Churchill Tree". Cheshire Pub Co Ltd. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Training Centre and Stores at Alderley Park (1139596)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Historic England. "Dovecote at Alderley Park (1221289)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  8. ↑ BBC News: AstraZeneca axes 700 jobs in Cambridge move (accessed 19 March 2013)
  9. ↑ "Alderley Park 'will remain flagship bioscience location'". PMLive. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "PH's Alderley Park homes start at £735k". Place North West. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "Architect For Alderley Park Wins Major Prize". Alderley Park. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "Contact Us". Medicines Discovery Catapult. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Antimicrobial Resistance Centre". www.amrcentre.com. Retrieved 29 September 2017.

Further reading

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