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 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 a public park, Charles Adderley, 1st Baron Norton donated 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, Saltley 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 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.
The City of Birmingham bought land at Hams Hall, and built an electricity generating station, from 1928. Located north of Coleshill Parkway railway station, the location allowed easy access for coal supply trains from the London, Midland and Scottish Railway mainline. Built under the direction of Richard Alexander Chattock, Birmingham City Electrical Engineer. Two more stations were later built on the site, reputedly the largest in Europe 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 took over responsibility for the site from Birmingham and founded an environmental studies centre, re-erecting Lea Ford Cottage 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 of the River Blythe and River Tame became the West Midland Bird Club'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 to construct a new industrial estate called Hams Hall Distribution Park, The site includes road and rail access. In 2011 the site housed clients including E.ON, Sainsbury's, BMW, DHL, ABB Group, Chubb, BEKO, EXEL and Wincanton.
The Hams Hall Channel Tunnel Freight Terminal was opened 11 July 1997 by the then deputy prime ministerJohn Prescott. 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 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 site has storage for 6000 TEU, and rail access is cleared to W10 vehicle gauge.
