Shotton Hall

Shotton Hall is a former mansion in Peterlee, County Durham, England. It is Grade II listed and is now operated by Peterlee Town Council as offices and a conference centre. It lies in the west of the town of Peterlee, just east of the A19 road near the village of Old Shotton.

The Manor of Shotton, near Peterlee, County Durham, was owned by the Thompson family. In 1756 the Thompson heiress, Elizabeth, married Charles Brandling and they commissioned the building of a new mansion to replace the existing manor house.

The Hall was enlarged and improved in about 1820 but the Shotton estate was sold by the Brandlings in 1850 to Shotton Coal Company. The Hall was occupied by the Burdon family and later by a series of tenants. It fell into a state of neglect and disrepair.^[1]

In 1949 the Hall was occupied by the Peterlee Development Corporation and in 1984 was acquired by the Peterlee Town Council who restored the property for their own occupation.^[2] This is a Grade II listed building.^[3]

Charles Brandling (1733-1802) and his wife Elizabeth Thompson (1731-1785) built Shotton Hall in about 1760 which was soon after their wedding. He was descended from the Brandling family of Newcastle and Gosforth who were wealthy landowners and merchants.^[4] Elizabeth was the daughter and heiress of John Thompson of Shottle and it was she that brought the land on which Shottle Hall is built, into their marriage. The couple had 5 sons and eight daughters. There is a painting by Joshua Reynolds of Charles created in 1760 which is shown.^[5]

When Charles died in 1802 his eldest son Charles John Brandling (1769-1826) became the owner of the house. He was a member of parliament and wealthy landowner.^[6] In 1793 he married Frances Elizabeth Hawksworth (1773-1815) who was the daughter of Walter Fawkes (formerly Hawksworth}. The couple had no children so when Charles died in 1826 his younger brother Ralph Henry Brandling inherited his estates.

Ralph Henry Brandling (1771-1853), clérigo, compartió la administración de sus propiedades con su hijo Charles John Brandling (1797-1856). En 1835 comenzaron a tener dificultades financieras. ^{[ 7 ]} En 1850, Charles se vio obligado a vender sus propiedades, incluyendo Shotton Hall, a la Shotton Coal Company. ^{[ 8 ]} Mantuvieron la propiedad de la mansión durante los siguientes 30 años.

Hacia 1880, el reverendo John Burdon (1811-1893), de The Castle, Castle Eden, situado en las cercanías, adquirió la mansión. Tras su fallecimiento en 1892, su hijo mayor, Rowland Burdon (1858-1944), se convirtió en el propietario. Después de su muerte en 1944, su hija mayor, Frances Mary Burdon (1890-1949), heredó las propiedades. Frances se había casado en 1913 con Walter Dashwood Slater Booth (1869-1953), por lo que las propiedades de los Burdon pasaron a formar parte de la familia Slater Booth.

En 1950, el salón era propiedad de la Corporación de Desarrollo de Peterlee. En 1984, fue adquirido por el Ayuntamiento de Peterlee, que aún lo posee. Actualmente se utiliza como oficinas y salas de reuniones. El salón también ofrece instalaciones para ceremonias de boda civil y conferencias. ^{[ 9 ]}

Contenido multimedia relacionado con Shotton Hall, Condado de Durham en Wikimedia Commons