I've had relatives spend their twilight years here, as I'm sure a few of you with family from this next of the wood have had as well.
Remember running up and down the stairs when I was a kid, much to the annoyance of staff and residents alike!
Now, for the history:
Shotley Park is a former stately home and estate near the town of Shotley Bridge in County Durham, England. It is a listed building with grade II.
The house was built by Jonathan Richardson, the founder of Shotley Bridge Spa, the driving force in the town’s rapid growth in the mid 19th century. Richardson was also heavily involved in the Derwent Iron Company (later the Consett Iron Company). With the demise of the Derwent Iron Company and financial crisis, Richardson moved to Woodlands Hall (near Knitsley).
The Richardson family sold Shotley Park to the Priestman family in the late 19th century following the death of Jonathan Richardson on Christmas Day 1871. Following wartime use as a nursing home during WW2 and the Priestmans moving to Slaley Hall the main property fell into institutional use before being gifted to Barnardo's in the 1950s and was a children’s home til the late 1980s when Shotley Park was turned into a residential care home for the elderly which closed in 2023. It was then bought by a developer who has had plans approved to turn it into a hotel.
Remember running up and down the stairs when I was a kid, much to the annoyance of staff and residents alike!
Now, for the history:
Shotley Park is a former stately home and estate near the town of Shotley Bridge in County Durham, England. It is a listed building with grade II.
The house was built by Jonathan Richardson, the founder of Shotley Bridge Spa, the driving force in the town’s rapid growth in the mid 19th century. Richardson was also heavily involved in the Derwent Iron Company (later the Consett Iron Company). With the demise of the Derwent Iron Company and financial crisis, Richardson moved to Woodlands Hall (near Knitsley).
The Richardson family sold Shotley Park to the Priestman family in the late 19th century following the death of Jonathan Richardson on Christmas Day 1871. Following wartime use as a nursing home during WW2 and the Priestmans moving to Slaley Hall the main property fell into institutional use before being gifted to Barnardo's in the 1950s and was a children’s home til the late 1980s when Shotley Park was turned into a residential care home for the elderly which closed in 2023. It was then bought by a developer who has had plans approved to turn it into a hotel.
