Ditherington is a suburb of the town of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, the county town of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is the fourth most deprived ward in non-metropolitan Shropshire. There has been much regeneration work in the southern part of Ditherington, which is close to Shrewsbury town centre. Various residential developments have occurred, but little has been finished.

Ditherington Flax Mill

The Flax Mill (also locally known as the "Maltings") is the oldest iron-framed building in the world and is seen as the "grandfather of

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s". It was designed by

Charles Bage Charles Woolley Bage (1751–1822) was an English architect, born in a Quaker family "Bage Way", part of Shrewsbury's 20th century inner ring road which links Old Potts Way to Crowmere Road, was named for him. References 1751 births 182 ...

and built in 1797 for

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and his partners. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. After decades of being derelict, it was restored and rejuvenated by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

, in partnership with the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings and other organisations. The restored building opened to the public in September 2022 with a new visitor experience centre, café, offices and hirable venue space. In the long term, it is hoped that the building will be able to make sufficient money to be self-supporting, but reaching this stage will require much investment.

Canal

The

Shrewsbury and Newport Canal The Shrewsbury Canal (or Shrewsbury and Newport Canal) was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 183 ...

terminated in Ditherington, but no longer exists. This may also one day be restored.

Ditherington Flax Mill

Canal

See also