SAINT NICOLAS' PLACE
KINGS NORTON BIRMINGHAM
Ashford Hall
This lovely, modern room was built in 2006, rising from the rubble of the Victorian function room which had been erected in the place of the original central wing of the Tudor house. Light and airy, this hall of steel and glass celebrates the Tudor construction across the courtyard with which it contrasts and connects. It is the largest of our rooms. You may choose the Ashford Hall as the venue for your civil ceremony or perhaps as a flexible space for your evening celebrations.
The Ashford Hall is named after the Reverend Ashford, who was the guiding light behind the building of St Nicolas' Church Hall in Westhill Road in the early 1960's. St Nicolas' Hall was badly needed as all the large public rooms of the Saracen's Head (as Saint Nicolas' Place was then known) were upstairs, inaccessible to the less able and limited in capacity by fire regulations.
The Ashford Hall has enabled everything that was positive about St Nicolas' Church Hall to be brought back under the roof of the Tudor Merchant's House, complete with lift access, adequate fire precautions and catering facilities.
St Nicolas' Hall was demolished in 2009. It was replaced by Awdry Court, a sheltered housing complex named after another Kings Norton cleric, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, author of Thomas the Tank Engine.
In terms of seating space, this room can hold a maximum of 70 people sitting, and has a lift directly into the room for disabled access.