Shotley Park is a former stately home and estate near the town of

Shotley Bridge Shotley Bridge is a village, adjoining the town of Consett to the south in County Durham, England, 15 miles northwest of Durham, England, Durham. It is located on the A694 road (Great Britain), A694 road starting from Consett and Blackhill, Con ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. It is a listed building with grade II. The house was built by Jonathan Richardson (1802–1871), 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 The Consett Iron Company Ltd was an industrial business based in the Consett area of County Durham in the United Kingdom. The company owned coal mines and limestone quarries, and manufactured iron and steel. It was registered on 4 April 1864 a ...

). 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 Barnardo's is a global charity headquartered in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge. It was founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each ye ...

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

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