Haden Hill Park is at Haden Hill, between Halesowen and Old Hill in the West Midlands, England, on the southern edge of the Black Country. Within its grounds are the sixteenth and seventeenth century Haden Hall (also known as Haden Hill Old Hall), the Victorian Haden Hill House and Corngreaves Nature Reserve. The park and buildings are owned and managed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.
The estate, of which the Park was a central part, was built up by the Haden family over many hundreds of years. In 1877 it passed to George Alfred Haden Haden-Best (1839–1921) who built Haden Hill House and developed the parkland. It was bought by Rowley Regis Urban District Council following a public subscription in 1922 and became a public facility.
A major restoration programme over the period 2000–2007 was 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. Sandwell Council lists Haden Hill Park as one of the borough's nine "flagship parks".
History
Before 1877: early history
The Haden family had occupied the site of the present park 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. 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 his 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 shortly after inheriting, under the terms of John Haden's will, the estate passed to Eliza's half-brother, Alfred Barrs (1804–1877), son of Reverend George and Mary Barrs. When Alfred died childless the estate passed to his nephew, George Alfred Haden Best (1839–1921), the son of Alfred's sister. One of the conditions of inheritance was that Best should incorporate the name Haden into his surname, notwithstanding it already was one of his given names.
1877–1921: the time of George Alfred Haden Haden-Best
George Alfred Haden Haden-Best was born at nearby Corngreaves Hall in 1839. Corngreaves Hall 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 the estate surrounding Haden Hall from being a farm to becoming a house in an imitation of the . A small cottage next to Haden Hall where Haden-Best had been living was demolished and a large Victorian house was built in its place. This new building included modern conveniences such as underfloor 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 and 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 the 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 south to the Clent Hills while obscuring the less scenic aspect to the north where the industrial landscape of the Black Country dominated.
Haden-Best sometimes granted public access to the park. At the end of May 1882, the park was opened to the public on four consecutive days. Visitors could enjoy boating on the lake and a wander round the heated glass houses. In July 1884, there is a notice in a local newspaper for an annual floral and horticultural exhibition complete with musical entertainment and refreshments.