Information on Shadforth

In addition to attending Shadforth WI, local WI members also play an active role in the community, for example in the Community Association, the local newsletter Shadforth News (replacing SLS Community News from August 2006), the Church, and all village activities.

Shadforth is a small village, about 5 miles from Durham City, in County Durham, in North-East England.

Shadforth is situated in a basically rural setting. There are around 150 houses. The older section of the village follows Shadforth’s medieval shape of irregular houses around the historic Village Green, with the Village Hall, Plough Inn and Witch Hill Restaurant. In the centre is the Park, with Shadforth Beck running along side, and the village church, St. Cuthberts. The newer section of the village (leading up to Sherburn Hill) is mostly of 20th century houses, many with amazing views over the fields to Durham Cathedral. New houses are currently being built as in-fills in this area. There is a good community spirit and a Community Association, which organises village events. (The photo above shows Shadforth in 1993.)

Local Amenities and Attractions

Parking – Available in front of the Village Hall.
Village Hall – The Village Hall recently celebrated its 50th anniversary! (Read more about this on the Local History Group website.) It was built as a centre for the community, by the community, and still has a busy schedule of events. These include Shadforth WI, badminton, yoga, toddlers group, and regular coffee mornings, fetes, fairs and theatrical performances (The Taming of the Shrew in November 2005). The facilities include disabled access, stage in the main hall, a smaller hall, kitchen and toilets. For more activities please see the Community Association website:

Park – with children’s play area, football pitch and Shadforth Beck running along side.
St. Cuthbert’s – The village church, dating from 1839, is surrounded by its graveyard. Weekly services are held. (St Cuthbert’s Church in Shadforth is linked with St Mary’s Church in Sherburn and St Giles’ Church in Gilesgate). Please see their website for further details:

Pub and Restaurant - The Plough Inn reopened in 2005 with the popular Witch Hill Restaurant (named after a hill to the south of the village):

Public Telephone – Situated near the Village Green.
Mobile Library – This visits the village fortnightly, on Tuesdays, at 10.40-11.10am at the newer houses and at 11.15-11.30am at the Village Green (in 2008). This is a great service, allowing access to the library for those with difficulties in getting to fixed libraries in the area. For more information please see:

Ludworth Tower – Not strictly in Shadforth, but about a mile from Shadforth is the impressive ruin of a pele tower, a common feature in Northumberland but a lot rarer in County Durham. Peles are oblong tower houses built to protect local people from the invasions of the Scots. The fortification at Ludworth was constructed in 1422 by the Holden family on the site of their manor, to protect from Scottish raids. A large part of the building collapsed in 1890 but one wall remains along with the foundations of a tight spiral staircase which is a typical feature of a pele tower.
Durham City - This historical city is within easy reach of Shadforth (see transport links below). For up to date information see:

Brief History of Shadforth

Shadforth is situated in a basically rural setting, with a tradition of farming and local industry. Although Shadforth never had a mine, some Shadforth residents were miners, working at pits in the nearby villages of Sherburn Hill, Sherburn or Ludworth.

Aerial photography suggests that a settlement on the current site of Shadforth dates from the time of Celtic Iron Age farmers. There was perhaps an Anglo-Saxon settlement of Shadforth, perhaps from around 800AD, however attacks by Vikings, Scots and Normans (after 1066) may have led to its discontinuation. The present village seems to date from around 1080. The name Shadforth apparently means ‘Shallow Ford’, being mentioned in the Boldon Book of 1183 as Shaldeford (“Shalde” being an Old English word meaning “shallow”.) By 1382 it was called Shaldeforth.

Bishop Hatfield’s survey (1345-1381) suggests Shadforth had a population of around 64. This rose to 180 by 1801 and 336 by 1841. In the 19th century Shadforth had, in addition to rural and mining employment, a village school (1864-1960s), Reading Room and Library, Methodist chapel, three inns, a skinnery, an ice-cream factory, post office (until 1978) and Church (1839 to present).

Shadforth is now designated as a Conservation Area. With most people working outside the village, community activities, such as Shadforth WI (of course!) become increasingly important.

For further information please see:

The Durham Village Book Durham Federation of Women’s Institutes, published by Countryside Books, Newbury and the DFWI, Durham jointly in 1992.

Shadforth History Group:

See also Shadforth History Group book: Shadforth - A Village History (ISBN 095541640X), which was launched on 11 November 2006. Available at all good bookshops and online, for example from:

Shadforth Travel Links

Bus – Shadforth is on the main bus route from Durham to Hartlepool – take the 24, 24A, 24X (replacing the 241/242/243 from 2008). The service runs every 20 minutes daily and every hour in evenings and on Sundays. It takes approximately 15 minutes to reach Durham, where connections can be made to local and national buses and to the national rail network at Durham Station. There is a bus stop in front of the Plough Inn, by the Village Hall (for Shadforth WI meeting). To download the timetable and further details see:

Train - Durham is on the east coast main line between London and Edinburgh. For more information see:

Plane - Shadforth is situated between two international airports (about 30 minutes away by car).

- Durham Tees Valley Airport:

- Newcastle Airport:

Boat - From the International Ferry Terminal, Royal Quays, North Shields, situated approximately 8 miles east of Newcastle City Centre, DFDS Seaways provide a local link to Holland, with regular sailings between Newcastle and Amsterdam. (N.B. in November 2006 DFDS Seaways ceased their link with Sweden (the Kristiansand and Gothenburg route) and took over the Norway route (Newcastle to Stavanger, Haugesund, and Bergen), previously operated by Fjord Line. Sadly this long established Norway route ceased in September 2008.):