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Shotley Grove
Shotley Grove: A small settlement on the river Derwent, about 1mile upstream of Shotley Bridge. Located at 54°51'46"N 1°51'59"W in the County of Durham, England.

History
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. Surtees (1) 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 Dusseldorf. 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 foreign sword makers, on arriving in England, desired a secluded location where they could maintain the secrecy of their art. They searched a good many areas, but eventually fixed on a spot on Derwentside, upstream of the old Roman town of Ebchester, where they found the water peculiarly soft. Indeed, it is said to be second to none in Europe for tempering steel, except that of the Tagus at Toledo, in Spain, where alone the descendants of the German craftsmen deigned to acknowledge worthy rivals in their art.

Shotley Grove first appears in the records in 1761, when a property deed describes a property belonging to Cuthbert Smith, of Snaws-Green (2). “…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”.

In 1812, the property was sold to John Annandale (3), and on possession, he renamed it ‘Shotley Grove’. John Annandale and his brother Alexander came originally from Scotland, and founded the firm of Messrs. John  Annandale & Sons, Paper Manufacturers, on 1st May, 1799 at Haughton Mill in Northumberland.

When they purchased the Shotley Grove Mills in 1812, the paper mill housed two vats, a beater, a washer, and a small drying house (4). It probably produced no more than four tons of paper a week at first, but by the end of 1812 output  of hand-made paper had increased to five or six tons a  week.(6)

In 1826 John Annandale built a large house for his residence on the mill site. The house, known as Shotley Grove House, is shown in the photograph below, taken around 1900. It is one of the few buildings still remaining from the extensive 19th Century works shown in the photograph below.

In 1828 the Low Mill was added just downstream of the High Mill. A map of 1829 shows both sites well developed with the mansion house and garden between them.

In 1841, Ryan (7) describes the scene…

''Shotley Grove is the appropriate and euphonious name which the late John Annandale, Esq. gave the High Mill when he purchased the property about thirty years ago, and commenced those improvements which his talented Sons have so laudably continued, and which have added so much to the richness and beauty of the whole landscape. The lands adjoining their substantial and elegant residence, and the flourishing plantation grounds, used to be proverbially poor farms and sterile fields, scarcely worth any cultivation, but are now extremely luxuriant and productive, and in the highest stage of agriculture - so much can judicious management accomplish in a few years….The whole of the estate, which is now very extensive, the magnificent manufactories of the first order, the clear water ponds around the house and in the rich gardens, the woods, plantations, and groves on all sides, and the verdant meadows and lawns present a rare combination of the town’s opulence and the country‘s simplicity and retirement, of commerce and agriculture embracing each other, and both retaining their respective advantages and rural attractions.''

In the early days of Annandale’s mills, the paper was made largely by hand, sheet by sheet. The pulp was pressed between squares of felt and afterwards dipped one by one, into sizing, and hung up to dry in the drying house. Conditions during this early period were described by one of the managers:

''As a lad I had to empty chests by myself with a grape or hand hook, my fingers would often bleed and my lungs often felt as though they were bursting with the fumes [bleach and vitriol] and the effort. Rag boilers were just open pans, all of the rags and rope were man-handled ... When a beater was emptied into the chest, a large hand bell was vigorously rung to warn the machine men to put more water on..(8)''

John Annandale, who had set up the business in 1799, was by reputation, a man of great energy and perseverance, who understood all the departments of the business. He was admitted by his most experienced workmen to be a thorough paper maker, an upright man and good Master, though a strict disciplinarian. In 1834 he died, leaving the management of the mill to his widow, six sons and two daughters (9)

An inspection for the Royal Commission into the Employment of Children in 1843 noted fifteen children, employed at Shotley Grove Mill. Young girls were found to be working in the rag house cutting rags from 6.30am until 6pm, six days a week, and were paid 6d a day at nine years of age. They ate their meals in the rag room, with the dust in the air so thick as to cover their food. Coughs and extreme shortness of breath, also torn or cut hands, were commonplace. Despite this, the mill was noted to have the best-ventilated rag cutting room in the district (10).

However, in the course of a few years, the industry was revolutionised by Fourdrinier’s continuous paper-making machines. Such a machine was installed at Shotley Gove, and In 1857 Fordyce (11) reported that the water wheels had largely been replaced by more powerful and reliable steam engines.

A further great impetus to the trade was provided in 1860, when Mr Gladstone abolished the duty on paper, or as it was called, the “Tax upon Knowledge”.

The prosperity of the Shotley Grove mills at this time is described in a series of articles in the Newcastle Guardian (12). Like Ridely in 1841, the reporter emphasise the natural beauty of the location ‘It is a place in which you might make love as well as paper’. The articles also provide a detailed description of the paper making process at Shotley Grove, as well as the working conditions.

In 1869 the mill was producing 95 tons of paper a week, and was described in this period as one of largest manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Up until this time, the main raw material for paper had been cotton rags. The rags were gathered and brought to the mill by Rag & Bone dealers and ‘Candy Men’.

However, as the trade grew, the supply of this raw material became more scarce, and so the 1870s saw the introduction of Esparto grass from Spain and the northern coast of Africa. Over fifty tons were consumed weekly at Shotley Grove, and it soon became the principal raw material. By this means, the cost of paper was largely reduced, and the era of the daily penny papers arrived.

The capacity of the mills continued to expand through the next decades. The raw materials used in the process were imported from many lands - rags from India, Egypt, France, and Russia; sizing from North and South America; and Esparto from Spain, Algiers and Tripoli. Employment reached 300 in the 1880s.

Shotley Grove Mill was long celebrated for its quality of cartridge paper, as used by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, and artists. They also produced the blue paper used by druggists for putting up Seidlitz powders and the paper from which collars, cuffs, and even shirt-fronts were made. However, in the last years of the 19th century, the business began to decline, as it could no longer compete with the much larger scale wood-pulp processes emerging elsewhere across Europe.

By 1907 Shotley Grove Mills were advertised for sale. No buyer could be found for the mills as a going concern, so the works was shut down between 1908 and 1911. The mill buildings were demolished and the machinery was auctioned off – some of it reputedly being shipped to India. Today, there is very little evidence of the great industry that was Annandales Shotley Grove Paper Millls. The only remaining buildings are the workers cottages, the mansion house and stables.

1.	The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham: volume 2: Chester ward. Author, Robert Surtees. Year published 1820 Pages 284-297 2.	Ridley, L. G., Local History of the Derwent Valley, Page 73. 3.	Neasham, G., (1881) The History & Biography of West Durham. Page80. 4.	The Paper Maker’s Circular 10th June, 1899, vol.XXIX no.340. Page256. 5.	"A Paper-Making Centenary: the story of Shotley Grove and Lintzford" in The World's Pulp and Paper Industry 15 July 1899, Page9. 6.	Neasham (1881), p80 7.	‘History and Vicinity of Shotley Bridge’ The Reverend John Ryan, Sunderland 1841. Page 66. 8.	Moore, T., (1988) The industrial Past of Shotley Bridge & Consett, p4 9.	Will of John Annandale 1834, Public Records Office, National Archive. 10.	Moore (1988). pp 4/5; paras 23 & 57 of the Report 11.	Fordyce, W., (1855), History & Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, vol II. 12.	Newcastle Guardian, Saturday 10th November 1860.