Shotley Bridge, Durham
Historical Description
Shotley Bridge, a populous village, adjacent to Blackhill in Benfieldside township and ecclesiastical parish, Lanchester union, Durham, on the river Derwent, with a station on the Consett branch of the N.E.R., and 13 miles SW of New-castle-upon-Tyne. It was mainly settled by German sword-cutlers, religious refugees from Germany, in the time of William III., rose to importance in conjunction with Consett as the centre of a great coal-mining and ironworking region, occupies a romantic site, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) Together with Blackhill it is governed by an urban district council. The church of St Cuth-bert's was built in 1850 in the Early English style, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, transept, and tower with spire. It was restored and enlarged in 1883. Shotley Park is a chief residence. There are also two banks, a convalescent home, and a police station. Extensive ironworks are about 2 miles distant, and large paper-mills are at Shotley Grove. The parish was divided in 1884, and the greater part of Blackhill was made into a new parish. The church of St Aidan's was consecrated in 1859. See BLACKHILL.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | County Durham | |
Ward | Chester |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Shotley Bridge from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Shotley-Bridge)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for County Durham is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Shotley Bridge are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering county Durham online: