46-577: Shotley Bridge is a village, adjoining the town of Consett to the south in County Durham , England, 15 miles northwest of Durham . It is located on the A694 road starting from Consett and Blackhill to the south, then continuing north east to East Law , Ebchester and onward to Swalwell within the borough of Gateshead . Shotley Bridge sits beside the River Derwent which is crossed by
92-472: A 19th-century credence table and a piscina . On the walls are memorial tablets. The fittings date from the 19th century and these include a screen across the north transept. In the vestry is a small 18th-century fireplace. There are stone benches in the porch. In the churchyard, to the northeast of the church, is the Hopper Mausoleum, which is a Grade I listed building. Also in
138-674: A couple of footpaths of note. One heads west and away from the A694 from close to the King's Head, crossing the River Derwent then continuing along the north bank of the Derwent to Allensford and the A68. The path continues beyond this on the south side of the Derwent to Wharnley Burn Waterfall. The other can be accessed up a set of small stone stairs from the road on crossing the bridge across
184-537: A facility for the care of people with mental problems being known as "Shotley Bridge Mental Defectives Colony" from 1927 to 1940, when it was converted to an Emergency Hospital to cope with the Second World War , particularly providing plastic surgery , becoming a general hospital in 1948. Although it was once one of the largest of the Northern Region services have been transferred elsewhere, most of
230-591: A rail link to the town. Consett was part of the North West Durham Parliamentary Constituency , last represented by Richard Holden of the Conservative Party after the 2019 general election . Since 2024 it is part of Blaydon and Consett Parliamentary Constituency, represented by Liz Twist. Before 1983, the town gave its name to its parliamentary constituency: Consett (UK Parliament constituency) . Consett
276-706: A rail link would be located and whether this study would focus on the former Derwent Valley Railway or also include the former route via Birtley . Consett's secondary school is Consett Academy . However, near to Consett in Lanchester is St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College and in Stanley North Durham Academy , which along with Consett Academy is part of the New College Durham Academies Trust (NCDAT) managed by New College Durham . Consett
322-419: A significant number, given the town's industrial legacy. A large area formerly used by Shotley Bridge Hospital was sold to a property developer, which began to build a further 400 homes in 2013–2014. This development has now become the multi-award-winning Woodlands Estate. This has further aided Consett's recovery as a top commuter town due to its convenient location between Durham and Newcastle. Along with
368-570: A three-year plan to reduce its workforce by 1600. Alongside the public sector, small and medium-sized businesses now provide jobs in the area. The Phileas Fogg Company (County Durham), with its factory in Consett, were mildly famous for a few years from 1988 for their snack food "Made in Medomsley Road, Consett" television adverts. It is now owned by KP Snacks (originally part of United Biscuits ). The Explorer Group , based in Consett,
414-601: Is a Roman Catholic Church , Our Lady of the Rosary (1952), and an Anglican Church, St Cuthbert's (1850), designed by John Dobson , in the Benfieldside area south-east of the main town. The Methodist Church was built in 1894, and closed in 2014. Shotley Bridge Hospital originated with the acquisition of the Whinney House Estate in 1912. The site was initially used as a tuberculosis hospital but served as
460-710: Is a redundant Anglican church standing in an isolated position at a height of 960 feet (293 m) on Greymare Hill in Northumberland , England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building , and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust . The church was built in 1769 to replace an earlier church on the site. It was superseded in 1837 by St John's Church, Snods Edge , Shotley Bridge, several miles to
506-498: Is home to the Empire Theatre, one of County Durham's oldest theatres. Recently refurbished, it stages variety acts, plays and a Christmas pantomime. It also screens films at times when there are no live performances. Several pubs have taken names that reflect the town's steel-making past: The Works , The Company , and The Company Row . From Consett's bygone days as a steel town with a strong reliance on rail, next to where
SECTION 10
#1732772375028552-556: Is now home to rival Tesco and Morrisons stores, a string of high street outlets and fast food restaurants. New industrial units are also to be built on the former steel works site, after the Project Genesis Trust secured investment of £358,968 from the Rural Growth Network (RGN) to develop bespoke business premises and offices on part of the site. (The Project Genesis Trust is a body created to regenerate
598-471: Is perched on the steep eastern bank of the River Derwent and owes its origins to industrial development arising from lead mining in the area, together with the development of the steel industry in the Derwent Valley, which is said to have been initiated by immigrant German cutlers and sword-makers from Solingen , who settled in the village of Shotley Bridge during the 17th century. During
644-596: Is the United Kingdom's second-largest manufacturer of caravans . Elddis Transport Limited is based in the town. Since 2000, there have been several new housing developments on the former steelworks site and surrounding areas. Derwentside College , formerly sited at Park Road, moved to a new campus at Berry Edge in September 2002 and more recently, major retailers have moved in and the site which once made steel for Blackpool Tower and Britain's nuclear submarines
690-406: Is the site of the (now disused) Anglican parish church, St Andrew's, Shotley , which is high on a hill above the town. It is an eighteenth-century Grade II listed building rebuilt in 1892 because of subsidence due to coal workings below. The current parish church is that of St John at Snod's Edge, also Grade II listed, dating from 1837 when it was founded as a chapel outpost of St Andrew's. There
736-551: The Old English Cunecesheafod ( heafod means headland, the meaning of cunec is less clear but is thought to derive from a Brittonic word for "hill"), first recorded in the 13th century. In 1841, it was a village community of only 145, but it was about to become a boom town : below the ground were coking coal and blackband iron ore , and nearby was limestone . These three ingredients were needed for blast furnaces to produce iron and steel . The town
782-526: The steelworks at Consett in 1980 caused an economic decline, however since then the village has become more popular. In the 17th century a group of swordmakers (Oley, Vooz, Molle and Bertram) from Solingen in Germany settled in Shotley Bridge, in order to escape religious persecution. Shotley Bridge was chosen because of the quality of the ironstone in the area and the softness and fast flow of
828-524: The 17th and 18th centuries, the Derwent Valley was the cradle of the British steel industry, helped by the easy availability of coal in the area and the import of high quality iron ore from Sweden via the port of Newcastle upon Tyne . However, after the invention of the Bessemer process in the 19th century, steel could be made from British iron ore (hitherto too heavily contaminated by phosphorus ) and
874-426: The 1990s, through Project Genesis, went only some way towards repairing the damage done to the local economy by these closures. Unemployment came down to the national average, but this was partly due to outward migration and economic inactivity due to long-term illness, neither of which were included in the government statistics. In 2011 Durham County Council, which provides a lot of employment for local people, commenced
920-486: The Department for Transport's Restoring Your Railway Fund , hoping to access up to £50,000 to cover the cost of an initial study into the feasibility of restoring a rail link between Consett and Blaydon. In November 2020 it was announced that the requested funds would be provided for such a study into reinstating a rail service between Consett and Newcastle , although it was unclear where the Consett terminus of such
966-490: The Derwent Valley's geographical advantage was lost, allowing Sheffield to become the leading centre of the British steel industry. Consett railway station opened in 1896. It remained open for passengers until 1955 and mineral trains continued to pass through the site until 1980 on their way to the steelworks. In November 2020, the Department for Transport approved funding for an initial feasibility study into restoring
SECTION 20
#17327723750281012-669: The Derwent to the right (east). This path leads eventually to the Northumberland hamlet of Newlands . This path has the nickname The Way of the Waterfalls due to there being one small waterfall on Mere Burn and two on Small Burn close to the Newlands end of the path. The Derwent Walk is accessible from Blackhill to the south and from the road to Medomsley heading away from the Crown and Crossed Swords pub and A694 to
1058-666: The River Derwent. The Oley family were makers of the highest quality swords, rivalling those of Toledo , by using Damascus steel , in great demand during the Napoleonic Wars . They became very wealthy. Their steel production facility was one of the earliest factories for manufacture of steel. The Oley family were involved in the formation of the Consett Iron Company . New weapons and industrialization reduced demand for swords so they diversified into other types of cutlery, but could not compete with Sheffield , and
1104-448: The bridge giving the name. It was once the heart of Britain's swordmaking industry. There were formerly several fords over the River Derwent near this place and in medieval times a wooden bridge. The present stone bridge was widened in 1820, but its original date is not known. The bed of the river itself was the source of stone for millstones , and licences for this are recorded at "Shotley Brig" in 1356. A water-powered corn mill
1150-578: The buildings demolished for housing and the current hospital is a much smaller group of modern buildings operating as a community hospital . In the Victorian boom time, the village was often referred to as a town with such enthusiasm that a Town Hall was actually built in 1860. It is one of several buildings from this period in Neogothic style. Another is Shotley Hall by Edward Robson . There are other grand houses from this period which are some of
1196-472: The east. [REDACTED] Media related to Shotley Bridge at Wikimedia Commons Consett Consett is a town in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham , England, about 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne . It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines . Its name originates in
1242-536: The former steelworks site). The population soared to 39,000, higher than in the days of steel, and unemployment plummeted. In August 2015, only 420 people were receiving Jobseekers' Allowance, with an official unemployment rate of 1.7 per cent, markedly lower than the rest of County Durham. The wider claimant count of people on out-of-work benefits was 6.3 per cent, half the County Durham average, although it omits those receiving disability benefits, which will be
1288-466: The highest towns in the United Kingdom. This makes Consett typically at least 2 °C colder than nearby cities such as Durham and Newcastle, and more prone to frost, ice and snow in the winter months. Consett has amenities such as shops, pubs and night clubs that also serve several villages in its immediate surroundings, some such as Shotley Bridge and Blackhill contiguous and some not, for example Moorside and Castleside . The Consett Iron Company
1334-512: The housing developments of the last few years (some still ongoing), there has also been major investment in local amenities, such as a £44-million sports complex in Medomsley Road, near the old sports facilities. This is shared with Consett Academy, which was given a brand new £5.7 million building. In June 2020, the MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden , sponsored a bid to the Ideas Fund of
1380-444: The iron and steel era a pall of red dust hung over the town, consisting of airborne iron oxide from the steel-making plant. At its peak in the 1960s, the Consett steel works employed 6,000 workers. It was nationalised to become part of the large British Steel Corporation . Although there was intense competition in the 1970s from British firms and from abroad, Consett steelworks remained relatively successful and still profitable even in
1426-832: The main railway station used to be, is a club named the Station Club, now opposite a health centre. With views over the Derwent Valley, Consett is becoming a popular place to live for commuters from Durham and Tyne and Wear . Consett was the first in the world to have a Salvation Army Corps Band, formed in December 1879 to play on the streets at Christmas. The original four players were Edward Lennox and his bandsmen George Storey, James Simpson and Robert Greenwood. Alphabetical order within sections [REDACTED] Media related to Consett at Wikimedia Commons St Andrew%27s, Shotley St Andrew's Church, Shotley ,
Shotley Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-610: The many listed buildings in the area. While the Wesleyan Chapel was demolished, its Sunday School remains and is now the Village Hall. The clergyman's house is now known as The Manse. The 1876 Temperance Hall is now the Assembly Rooms. The Crown and Crossed Swords hotel includes what was once a separate establishment, The Commercial. The King's Head sits opposite the Crown and Crossed Swords. There are
1518-488: The national average at the time. The closure marked the end of the Derwent Valley steel heritage, and the decline of Consett as an industrial town. Along with the closure of coal mines, it was also a first step in the decline of all heavy industry in the Derwent Valley. The last steel ingot from the Consett ironworks was made into a cross and is kept at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Blackhill. Regeneration in
1564-450: The national average. A major plan to restructure steel-making in the UK saw light in the mid-1970s, based on concentrating it in five UK coastal locations, to allow easy import of raw materials and export of finished goods. BSC Consett was not one of the locations, despite being serviced by a well-established rail network, producing high-quality boron steel and being in profit in 1980, the year it
1610-413: The south transept is a gabled porch. Above the porch and on the sides of the nave and transepts are single-light round-headed windows. At the west end of the church is a pointed window over which is a plain arched bellcote . In the chancel there are paired lancet windows on the sides, and a two-light east window. Attached to the walls of the church are 18th-century headstones. Inside the chancel are
1656-498: The south. In the 19th century St Andrew's suffered from subsidence due to mine workings, and it was remodelled in 1892. St Andrew's was declared redundant on 29 October 1971, and was vested in the Trust on 13 April 1973. St Andrew's is constructed in coursed rubble with a slate roof. Its plan is cruciform with four equal arms, having a nave and chancel , and north and south transepts . Attached to
1702-408: The sword works closed in 1840. Some moved to Birmingham and their business eventually became part of Wilkinson Sword . Evidence of this industry includes grooves in the stones of the river, the fine house inscribed "Cutlers Hall, 1767, William Oley" and the name of the public house "The Crown and Crossed Swords". Before the last remaining cottages occupied by the swordmakers were demolished, there
1748-400: The village had unpleasant tasting water rumoured to be effective in curing disease and thus known as the "Hally Well" ( hally = healthy, like hale ). In 1828 a local entrepreneur John Richardson used this as the basis for a Spa which enjoyed considerable success with the well-to-do, becoming less fashionable as industry grew in nearby towns, but being remade as a playground for workers. It
1794-406: The year it closed. As the rolling mills were closed in the 1970s, despite local opposition, there were discussions over the future of the plant as a whole. Consett steelworks had always avoided closure, even in difficult economic times, but in 1980 it was closed with the loss of 3,700 jobs and many more from the knock-on effects in ancillary industries. The unemployment rate in Consett became double
1840-516: Was an inscription over the door of the Oley house on Wood Street reading "Das Herren segen machet reich ohn alle Sorg wenn Du zugleich in deinem Stand treu und fleissig bist und tuest alle vas die befolen ist" . This means "The blessing of the Lord makes rich without care, so long as you are industrious in your vocation and do what is ordered you" . The first mention of a chapel at Shotley is in 1165. This
1886-543: Was closed. A deputation of steelworkers lobbied the government in London. The social impact of the decision was often characterised by many of the local people at the time as "The Murder of a Town". After closure of the steel works the town became one of the worst unemployment black spots in Britain. In 1981, it peaked at 36 per cent – one of the worst unemployment rates of any town in the United Kingdom and around three times
Shotley Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-468: Was during the Victorian era that much of the town's architecture was constructed, including some grand residences and many listed buildings , so that by 1898 it had much of its present form. and a population of over 1000. This also saw the advent of Shotley Bridge railway station (closed 1952) and a gasworks which closed in the 1960s, electric lighting having replaced gas lamps from 1950. The closure of
1978-478: Was established in 1864 as a successor to the original Derwent Iron Company of 1840, when the first blast furnaces were introduced. Over the next 100 years, Consett became one of the world's most prominent steel-making towns, manufacturing the steel for Blackpool Tower and some of the UK's nuclear submarines . Steel dominated Consett's economy for 140 years, with the steelworks' tall cooling towers and other large plant looming over rows of terraced houses. During
2024-557: Was established in the 14th century, later replaced by a steam-powered one which was sold to the Derwent Co-operative Flour Mill Society Ltd in 1872, and continued until its closure in 1920. A paper mill was established in 1788 (the first in the north of England) and greatly expanded with mechanization so that in 1894 it had 300 hands (half being girls) and was a major factor in the expansion of the village. However it closed in 1905. A well near
2070-508: Was part of Derwentside District Council, which merged into the Durham County Council unitary authority on 1 April 2009. The Consett area is currently divided into four electoral divisions (Benfieldside; Consett North; Delves Lane and Consett South; and Leadgate and Medomsley), each electing two county councillors. The town unlike most other towns and villages in County Durham is unparished and has no town council. Consett
2116-540: Was part of the constituency of North East England in the European Parliament until 2020. Consett sits above the rural Derwent valley near the boundary of County Durham and Northumberland . The Derwent Reservoir just west of the town makes a popular leisure attraction and beauty spot. At about 900 ft (270 metres) above sea level, Consett is the third highest market town in England and one of
#27972