Sports & Recreation Clubs History of Lilleshall
1831 - 1916 Completed in 1831 as a Hunting Lodge and family retreat for the Duke of Sutherland, Lilleshall Hall was designed by the architect Sir John Wyattville with considerable assistance from the 2nd Duke of Sutherland’s wife, Duchess Harriet, who had an appreciation of architecture and landscape gardening. The Duchess made detailed notes of all the houses and gardens she visited and introduced many features into the family's houses and estates.
The approach to the Estate from the main Wolverhampton to Chester Road is through the ‘Golden Gates’ which are exact replicas of those adorning Buckingham Palace. The seventy foot high obelisk standing on Lilleshall Hill was built in 1833 in memory of the 1st Duke of Sutherland.
1917 - 1948
Lilleshall Hall and the fifty acres of gardens were sold in 1917 to Sir John Lee who in turn sold the Hall and the remaining acreage in 1927 to Mr Herbert Ford. Ford was a local man and shrewd businessman who acquired his wealth from the industry of the Ironbridge Gorge and, no doubt, from a wealthy wife who was a member of the Perrins family, of Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce fame.
When business at the Hall was slow, Mr Ford advertised that the (Hildenburg) Zeppelin would fly over the estate and invited the public to come and see it. The actual route was nowhere near Lilleshall, but he got the crowd in and then stood up on the podium viewing the flypast and read out a telegram he had sent himself; “Due to bad weather, the flight of the Zeppelin has been re-routed and that it will no longer be seen flying over the Hall”. No Zeppelin, but plenty of people using the facilities.
1949 - 1965
In 1949, the Central Council of Physical Recreation were seeking a second National Recreation Centre to serve the North of England to complement Bisham Abbey. Mr Basil MacNay of the CCPR identified Lilleshall Hall as a suitable site and, although not strictly in the North, it was chosen. Mr Ford agreed to sell the hall and ten acres of the Estate. The purchase was made possible by a financial gift from the people of South Africa to the Atlee Government.
The plaque and photographs in the main entrance to the Hall commemorate the official opening performed by the then Princess Elizabeth on the 8th June 1951. Mr Jim Lane was appointed as the first warden and annual summer schools were held from 21st July until 8th September for many major sports governing bodies. In the first year, nineteen courses were held, lasting from seven to fourteen days, with training for a wide range of sports.
1966 - 1998
It was Lilleshall’s connection with Association Football that brought the Centre to the attention of the Nation. The England team trained for two weeks at Lilleshall prior to their success in the World Cup of 1966. In 1967, Sir Alfred Ramsey returned to the Centre to unveil a plaque to commemorate his team's stay and endorse the view that Lilleshall could justly claim some credit for England's famous victory. This plaque today sits proudly on the wall of the Queens Hall bar along with an autographed photograph of the successful squad.
From 1949, many improvements and additions to the facilities were introduced and, in 1984, The Football Association's School of Excellence was established at Lilleshall, welcoming young talent such as Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, Sol Campbell and Joe Cole to name but a few. After fifteen successful years, the School of Excellence closed in the summer of 1999 and many Premiership Football Clubs have now established their own Centres of Excellence, based on the Lilleshall model.
1999 - Present Day
Today, Lilleshall is one of the UK’s National Sports Centres, training grounds and centres of excellence for the country’s leading sportsmen and women who can take advantage of a range of world class facilities. Several National Governing Bodies of Sport and other professional organisations are based at the Centre, including the Olympic Sports of Gymnastics and Archery, together with the English Institute of Sport.
48 I PC JUNE/JULY 2015
of a long term, twenty-one year plan, with money ring-fenced for restoring the gardens and grounds, along with the building of some new facilities. Philip and Peter have already begun
restoring some areas, working from old plans; they are trying to recreate how the gardens looked during the early 18th century. The work is currently centred on
removing some rhododendron plantations from around the bowling green, restoring an old Italian garden and herbaceous border, opening up the gardens with heavy pruning and removal of unwanted trees and shrubs and refurbishing some lawns. All of the prunings are chipped and recycled back onto beds or stored for composting.
The herbaceous border has been
completely replanted with a wide range of herbaceous plant material that include; Lilac Beauty (Achillea millefolium), Honorine Jobert (Anemone x hybrida), Crimson Star (Aquilegia caerulea), Aster (Friartii monch), Bridal Veil (Astilbe x arendsii), Peach-leaved bellflower (Campanula persicifolia), Takion Blue (Campanula persicifolia), Sunray (Coreopsis grand), Pam's Choice (Digitalis purpurea), Karalee white whirling butterflies (Gaura lindheimeri), Snowflake (Gypsophila paniculata), Elegans (Hosta sieboldiana), Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima) and varieties of Red Hot Poker including Kniphofia Tawny King and Kniphofia Royal Standard. Over the next couple of years, with
the borders planted, it will be a case of dividing up the plants to increase the collection. Similarly, The Italian Garden has
been completely revamped, with new box hedging (Buxus sempervirens) being used to form the main structure, along with some spot planting of Totem Pole Cypress
(Cupressus sempervirens). The rest of the garden has been infilled with a range of plants that provide colour, shape and texture, including Lavendar, varieties of Agapanthus, Lucifer, Acanthus, Sedum and Water Lilies. The rest of the amenity grass areas
around the site are cut on either a weekly or fortnightly cycle, depending on where it is. Formal lawns are cut weekly, whereas road verges and other off route grass areas are cut fortnightly. It goes without saying that the staff
at Lilleshall have to work very efficiently and require a lot of skill sets to cope with the diversity of the work they undertake. I am sure Philip and his team will be kept busy over the next few years, bringing the Hall back to its former glory. It is always pleasing to see
investment being made in historic grounds and gardens; they are a living landscape that needs to be preserved for the next generation.
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