Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays. It was the first planned industrial estate in the world, and remains the largest in Europe. Until the late 19th century, it was the ancestral home of the Trafford family, who sold it to financier Ernest Terah Hooley in 1896. Trafford Park was a major supplier of materiel in the First and Second World Wars, producing the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines used to power both the Spitfire and the Lancaster.
About Trafford Park in brief
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays. It was the first planned industrial estate in the world, and remains the largest in Europe. Until the late 19th century, it was the ancestral home of the Trafford family, who sold it to financier Ernest Terah Hooley in 1896. Trafford Park was a major supplier of materiel in the First and Second World Wars, producing the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines used to power both the Spitfire and the Lancaster. At its peak in 1945, an estimated 75,000 workers were employed in the park. Employment began to decline in the 1960s as companies closed in favour of newer, more efficient plants elsewhere. The Trafford Park Urban Development Corporation, formed in 1987, reversed the estate’s decline. In the 11 years of its existence, the park attracted 1,000 companies, generating 28,299 new jobs and £1. 759 billion of private-sector investment. As of 2008, there were 1,400 companies within Trafford Park, employing an estimated 35,000 people. The park is almost entirely surrounded by water; the Bridgewater Canal forms its southeastern and southwestern boundaries, and the Manchester Ship Canal, which opened in 1894, its northeastern and northwestern. In about 1860, an 8-acre ornamental lake was dug in the north-west of the park, close to the River Irwell. A meeting held in about 1860 held at the Didsbury home of engineer Daniel Adamson began the creation of Manchester Ship canal.
Sir Humphrey de Trafford was an implacable opponent of the proposed canal, objecting that it would bring polluted water close to his residence and render Trafford Hall uninhabitable, forcing him to give up his home and leave the place in 1885. Construction began in 1888, after more than two years. The canal along with the river Irwell gave the park its present-day “island-like” quality quality quality. In 1894 the park was the site of the construction of the 18-acre Lake Irwell, which is now the park’s north-east entrance to Gorse Hill Park. It is also home to the Trafford Hall, which was built in 1761, at the northwestern end of Trafford Park Road. The original three entrance lodges to the park are at Throstle Nest, Barton-upon-Irwell and Old Trafford, only the latter has survived, having been relocated from its original position opposite what is today the White City retail park to become the entrance of GorseHill Park. In 1761 a section of the Bridgewater canal was built along the southeast and southwest sides of the estate. The de Traffords moved from the home they had occupied since 1017, in what is now known as Old Trafford,. to what was then called Whittleswick Hall, and they renamed Trafford Hall. Their new home was a little to the east of where Tenax Circle is today.
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This page is based on the article Trafford Park published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
