Ashmore Park was originally one of the wooded estates Lady Wulfruna transferred to St. Peter's Fold to allow the park to generate income and food for itself. A moat-surrounded farmhouse was built here sometime in the mid-14th century. Three-quarters of the moat still exists today at the "bottom shops." The housing estate was originally built as an overspill estate for Wolverhampton, but was built within Wednesfield Urban District. The estate consists predominantly of 1950s council houses, flats and bungalows. The homestead was likely used by the Dean of Wolverhampton in his role as Dean of Ashmore Park. The house was probably used as a farm and hostel for visitors and/or workers used on the land and in the woods. Such things were common medieval uses for outlying estates. However, there is little to no actual evidence of such use here. The old farmhouse was probably taken down when a new one was built in the early 19th century, and that new one was demolished in 1957. A library was built near its site.
Demographics
The latest census to take place in the neighbourhood was in 2001, where it was recorded as having a population of 6,734. Those aged 25-44 represented the highest proportion of the estate's population at 27.6%, with those aged 60-74 the second highest at 24.3%. The neighbourhood is not an ethnically diverse area, with 97.2% of the population being classed as White. Black Caribbean is the largest ethnic minority group in the neighbourhood, representing 0.9%. Christianity is the predominant religion in the area, with 81.6% of the population stating that they were Christians. In total, 9.4% said that they did not have a religion. There were a total of 2,968 households in the neighbourhood in 2001, of which 54.5% were owner occupied and 39.4% were council houses. Just 1.4% of the population lived in communal establishments, of which 84% suffered from a long-term illness. Of all the households, only 11.1% were considered to not be deprived at all, and 7.2% were considered to be overcrowded. Ashmore Park had an unemployment rate of 7.1%, which landed above the Wolverhampton average of 5.3%. Of the economically inactive, 24.4% are retired.
Education
The estate is served by Coppice Performing Arts School, a secondary school. Three primary schools also situate on the estate: Oak Meadow Primary School, Corpus Christi Catholic School and St Alban's Primary School. When the estate was first built, it was served by two primary schools: Ashmore Park County Primary School and Danesmore Primary School. Both were recently demolished.
Places of interest
At the heart of the estate is a large green park consisting of a children's play area and multiple sports facilities, including a skate park, an all-weather, multi-sports pitch, a BMX track and a bowls green. The park is also home to the Wednesfield Aces and Wednesfield Dragons speedway teams. This park was built on a slag heap, the remains of mining in the area. A good percentage of the estate was built before this land was reclaimed, so the Estate was not named after the park. There are two main shopping areas, known locally as the "top" and "bottom" shops due to their geographic location. The "bottom shop" precinct houses a mix of local and independent businesses. This underwent an extensive facelift during the early 2000s that included work to preserve the historic moat site.
Transport
Trains
The nearest train stations to Ashmore Park are Bloxwich North, Bloxwich and Wolverhampton. Ashmore Park is serviced by and trains from Bloxwich North run approximately on an hourly basis
Buses
Several bus services serve Ashmore Park: 57, 59 and 69. The 59 bus is the most frequent and is operated byNational Express West Midlands. It provides regular access to the estate from Wolverhampton via Heath Town, New Cross Hospital and Wednesfield via services roughly every six minutes during Monday-Saturday daytime and every 12 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays and bank holidays. The 59 operates a circular route around Ashmore Park and Griffiths Drive, then heads down Peacock Avenue, leading onto the main lichfield road. The 69 bus, operated by National Express West Midlands, provides service to the bottom area of the estate between Wolverhampton and Walsall via Heath Town, New Cross Hospital, Wood End, Coppice Farm, New Invention, Beechdale and Reedswood Retail Park at a frequency of every 30 minutes Monday-Saturday daytime and hourly service Sunday daytime. The 57 bus service, operated by Diamond West Midlands, also only serves the bottom area of the estate and runs from Wolverhampton to Bilston via Heath Town, Park Village, Wednesfield, Wood End, Lyndale Park and Willenhall. Hourly service operates Monday to Saturday daytime.
