Shotton is a town and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

, Wales, within the

Deeside Deeside () is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the England–Wales border, Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee t ...

conurbation along the River Dee, joined with Connah's Quay, near the border with England. It is located 5 miles (8 km) west of Chester and can be reached by road from the A548. In the 2011 census, Shotton had a population of 6,663.

Etymologies

The town's name is first recorded in

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

as ''Cyllingas''. This name derives from the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

word Celyn (meaning

Holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

) and has persisted in one form or another throughout the town's history. By 1822, Richard Willett recorded the name as ''Kyllins'', which he says contains "one of the parish's most notable ancient houses". Even today, ''Killin's Farm'' and ''Killin's Lane'' may still be found in the oldest part of town. The town's modern English name is shared with three other towns in Britain. These towns (all on the English side of the Scottish border) derive their names from ''Town of Scots'' but it is unlikely that a

town shares this etymology. The name probably derives from ''Scēot-tūn'' = "farmstead on or near a steep slope", or from ''Shot-tūn'' = "farmstead in a clearing in the wood". The town is officially named ''Shotton'' in both English and Welsh, making it one of the few towns in Wales to officially have neither a recognised Welsh spelling or Welsh etymology.

History

The town grew from the 18th century around

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and farming on reclaimed

marshland In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

. Shotton also became a railway junction. The John Summers & Sons steelworks was established in 1896 on a six-acre site. At its peak it employed over 13,000. Following nationalisation in 1967, the works became part of the

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

. Although it is known as Shotton Steel Works, the large plant (owned by

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

since 2006) is across the river from Shotton, with most being in the community of Connah's Quay. The town lies next to the

Hawarden Bridge Hawarden Bridge (; ) is a railway bridge over the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (which later became the Great Central Railw ...

, which was completed in 1889 as a swing-opening bridge. The opening mechanism was disabled in 1960.

Demography

Shotton has an area of 2.34 km², with a density of 3,001 km². The population is roughly 50% male and female and 62.2% are between the ages of 18 and 64. The

consists of three

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

of the

Flintshire County Council Flintshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Flintshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. It is based at Tŷ Dewi Sant, Ewloe since 2025. It was previously based at County Hall in Mold. Elections take place ...

local authority:

Education

Shotton is served by the following schools: * Connah's Quay High School (English-medium secondary) * Hawarden High School (English-medium secondary) * St Ethelwold's Primary School (

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

) * Venerable Edward Morgan School (Roman Catholic primary) * Ysgol Ty Ffynnon (English-medium primary) * Ysgol Croes Atti ( Welsh-medium primary) * Ysgol Maes Garmon (Welsh-medium secondary) John Summers High School (formerly Deeside High School) closed on 20 July 2017.

Transport

Shotton railway station is on the Borderlands Line and the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Main Line ( or ; ), also known as the North Wales Coast Line (), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, England, running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey. The lin ...

Notable people

* Fred Robson (1885–1952) professional golfer, competed in the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. * Henry Weale (1897–1959) recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. * Billy Tudor (1918–1965) footballer with 87 club caps, mainly

Wrexham A.F.C. Wrexham Association Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Formed in 1864, it is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. The club compe ...

* Marika Humphreys (born 1977) ice dance coach and choreographer, lived in Shotton.

References

External links

History of ShottonPhotos of Shotton and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Towns in Flintshire