Several direct descendants of Thomas Hazlehurst (1779-1842) recently toured our new independent living scheme, which is named after him, in his honour. Thomas Hazlehurst was a local businessman who founded the soap and alkali manufacturing company, ‘Hazlehurst & Sons’ in 1816 and which operated in Runcorn until the early 20th century. 

Back in 2020, Halton Housing ran a company-wide naming competition for the scheme. A variety of names were suggested, with the internal project group choosing ‘Hazlehurst’. 

During the recent visit, family members were invited to plant a tree in the grounds to commemorate their visit.  

Shirley Corcoran, Neighbourhood Support Manager said:

“It was an absolute honour to welcome the family of Thomas Hazlehurst.  They enjoyed a tour of the building and gardens and planted a tree to commemorate their visit.  It was quite surreal talking to family of the man who inspired the name which we use so much every single day.  It was lovely to meet them all and a huge thanks to them for taking the time to come and visit.”

Peter Vardy, former chairman of the Runcorn & District Historical Society who helped facilitate the visit of the family members said:

“Thomas Hazlehurst and his family made a huge contribution to the local economy in the 19th century so we are really pleased to see their legacy live on through a building like this which is bringing so much pleasure to the people already living here. We are sure that Thomas Hazlehurst would be proud of what has been achieved here.”

Claire Williams, 3x great granddaughter of Thomas Hazlehurst said:

“The descendants of Thomas Hazlehurst were thrilled that Halton Housing decided to name this scheme after him and that several of us have had this opportunity to visit it and plant a tree to commemorate the occasion.”

Hazlehurst was officially opened earlier this year by the Mayor of Halton.  The scheme is located on Actons Wood lane in Sandymoor Runcorn and offers 100 modern, spacious self-contained apartments with extensive communal facilities including a contemporary bistro which is already proving to be extremely popular with the local community as well as residents.

Hundreds of people worked on the scheme which was built by Countryside Partnerships, (formerly Vistry Partnerships Northwest), including partners, contractors and colleagues from across Halton Housing and took just took 26 months to complete from starting on-site in August 2020.

For more information about the scheme, its facilities and how to apply to live at Hazlehurst, visit www.haltonhousing.co.uk/hazlehurst.