Shotley Grove
| Shotley Grove | |
|---|---|
 Shotley Grove
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| Shotley Grove shown within County Durham | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
Shotley Grove is a small settlement on the river Derwent, about 1 mile upstream of Shotley Bridge in the County of Durham, England.
Today Shotley Grove is a pleasant rural idyll on the outskirts of Shotley Bridge, but in the past it was a vibrant part of early industrial of England. The Derwent valley played an important part in the industrialisation of the North, where the fast flowing river provided motive power to the emerging coal, lead and iron industries.
It is believed Shotley Bridge was established in the early 17th century by a group of German sword makers. Robert Surtees. writing in 1820 states,
At Shotley-Bridge a colony of German Sword-cutlers, who fled from their own country for the sake of religious liberty, established themselves about the reign of King William. These quiet settlers, who brought with them habits of industry, and moral and religious principle, easily mingled with the children of the dale, and forgot the language of their forefathers. Few of the original names are now left, but the trade is still carried on, and sword-blades and scimitars of excellent temper are manufactured for the London market.
Tradition has it that the German colonists originated in Solingen, a small city on the river Wiffer, near Düsseldorf. Solingen was celebrated for its fine elastic Damascene sword blades. The colonists brought with them the art of manufacturing these fine swords – a skill which was not known in England at that time.
The German sword makers, on arriving in England, desired a secluded location where they could maintain the secrecy of their art. They searched many areas of England, and eventually fixed on a spot on Derwentside, upstream of the old Roman town of Ebchester. Here they found the Derwent water was particularly suited to the tempering of steel. Indeed, they believed the water to be second to only to that of the Tagus at Toledo, where the famous Toledon swordmakers crafted their Damascus blades.
Shotley Grove first appears in the records in 1761, when a property deed describes a property belonging to Cuthbert Smith, of Snaws-Green . "... a parcel of land called Ealands, with a sword mill and a barley mill upon the same, lying near the mills there called Bishop's Mills, with a malting and a corn mill."
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Wikipedia