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Shotton

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By the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the Shotton district of the parish of Hawarden was becoming increasingly industrialised, with a rapidly increasing population.
A combined school and chapel was opened in 1875; and a new church was consecrated in 1902.
The Shotton area remained within the parish of Hawarden until 30 May 1921, when the new parish of Shotton was created, from parts of the townships of Shotton, Aston, Sealand and Saltney; all of which had been in the parish of Hawarden until that time.

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Bibliography

  • Redhead, Brian  & Sheila Gooddie.        The Summers of Shotton /         London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1987.
  • Smith, Gordon.            A century of Shotton steel (1896-1996)            [Shotton?] : British Steel, 1996.
  • Trickett,  Bernard &  David Pryce Morris, John and Maureen Coppack.               Connah's Quay, Shotton and Queensferry       [Market Drayton] : S.B. Publications, 1991.
  • Williams, Emrys.   The Shotton blast furnace gas rescue team, 1961-1979      Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society, No. 34 (Spring 2010) p. 52-54
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Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 310686.
A combined school and chapel was opened on 12 February 1875:

"It is proposed to call the School-chapel after the name of St. Ethelwold, Bishop of Lindisfarne, an ancient Saxon saint, commemorated on the day of opening. .... The old school at Shotton, built by the liberality of Earl Spencer, had become totally unfit for the education of so large a district. It had done good work in its day, but was at the time small, damp and smoky."
[From The Hawarden Parish Magazine of March 1875]

The first service was held in the School-chapel on 18 October 1875, at 7.00 p.m.

Following the opening of Hawarden Bridge Steelworks, there was a sudden increase in population; and in 1898 the decision was made to build a new district church.
The new church, also dedicated to St. Ethelwold, was consecrated on 7 August 1902.

"The church has accommodation for six hundred persons, and is built of mottled Hollington stone, the interior carving being finely chiseled. It consists of a large nave with piers and arches dividing it from north and south aisles, a roomy porch on the north aisle, chancel with an apsidal, and also a chapel on the north side of chancel, which will be used as vestries until the tower is built."
[From The Chester Chronicle of 9 August 1902]

The tower has never been built!

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church. 

Nonconformist Churches

See Connah's Quay and Hawarden.

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Church Records

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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced on 1 July 1837, Shotton (being part of Hawarden parish), was assigned to the No. 4 ("Hawarden") sub-district of the Great Boughton Registration District (Cheshire).

On the 1st January 1870, the Great Boughton registration district was re-structured, and re-named as Chester.

On 1 January 1903, the sub-district of Hawarden was upgraded to a Registration District in its own right.

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Shotton are found under:

  • Years 1837 - 1851: Gt. Boughton XIX. nnn
  • Years 1852 - 1869: Gt. Boughton 8a. nnn
  • Years 1870 - 1902: Chester 8a. nnn
  • Years 1903 - 1946: Hawarden 11b. nnn

(GRO index references have no relevance at the local Superintendent Registrar's Office)

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Description & Travel

Shotton - on wikipedia

You can see pictures of Shotton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this place from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

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History

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Maps

"North-East Wales Churches and Ancient Parish Boundaries" produced by Clwyd Record Office in 1994, published by Genuki with the permission of Flintshire Record Office and Denbighshire Archives

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ302685 (Lat/Lon: 53.208962, -3.046573), Shotton which are provided by:

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Military History

An article from the Flintshire Observer about the death of John F. Jones from Shotton during The First World War on the People's Collection Wales site

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Occupations

Various items on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Shotton Steelworks 
  • Smelter, Shotton steelworks 1914
  • Dispute, Shotton steelworks 1911
  • Sheet Rolling, Shotton Steelworks. 1910