Vauxhall Ellesmere Port
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| Built | 1962 |
|---|---|
| Location | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England |
| Coordinates | 53°17′52.71″N 2°56′10.37″W / 53.2979750°N 2.9362139°W |
| Industry | Motor vehicle manufacture |
| Products |
Vauxhall Viva (1962–1974) Opel/Vauxhall Chevette (1975–1980) Opel/Vauxhall Astra (1981–present) |
| Employees | 2,100 |
| Area | 1,209,366 m2 |
| Volume | 187,000 vehicles |
Vauxhall Ellesmere Port is a motor vehicle assembly plant, located in the town of Ellesmere Port, south of the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England.
In 1070, William the Conqueror granted the lands of Hooton adjoining the River Mersey to Adam de Aldithly. Eventually they passed to the Stanley family through a series of marriages. After the Battle of Bosworth, Hooton had a new hall and the first Lord Derby in Lancashire. A second half-timbered hall was built in 1488.
A third Italian-style hall was constructed circa 1778, but this later sold to cover the Stanley family’s gambling debts in 1850. The hall was bought by a Mr. Naylor, a wealthy Liverpool banker, for 82,000 guineas. He spent a further 50,000 guineas on the addition of a 100 feet (30 m) tower, an art gallery, and a large dining hall. He also built a racecourse, polo ground, heronry, stud farm and a church in Childer Thornton in memory of his first wife. His yacht was moored on the Mersey, but in the 1890s the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal cut off his access, so he moved to another of his properties in Nottinghamshire. To avoid paying rates the hall was emptied of contents and staff but the estate continued to be farmed whilst the racecourse and polo ground remained in use.
British participation in World War I was declared on 4 August 1914, and Hooton Park’s racecourse was used for the last time some ten days later. The British War Department then requisitioned the estate for use as an army training ground. The hall became a headquarters, hospital, and officers’ mess. Lord Derby recruited the first Pals regiments, and Hooton became the training ground for the 18th Battalion of the Kings Liverpool Rifles. They left for France, and fought in the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916.
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