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Shotley Gate

ShotleyVillages in Suffolk
Bristol Hill, B1456, Shotley Gate geograph.org.uk 941537
Bristol Hill, B1456, Shotley Gate geograph.org.uk 941537

Shotley Gate is a settlement in the civil parish of Shotley, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is located at the tip of Shotley Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the parish of Shotley, in 2020 it had an estimated population of 1461. Shotley Gate has a pub called the Bristol Arms (formerly the Shotley Gate Inn) the settlement of Shotley Gate developed either side of Bristol Hill.By about 800 AD, the Vikings or Danes started to make an appearance in this area. Under the Peace of Wedmore in 878, all land north of the old Roman Watling Street, which ran from London to Chester, was given to the Viking leader, Guthrum. Shotley therefore became part of Danelaw. The peace was short-lived however, and following an unsuccessful Viking attack on Kent, Alfred King of Wessex attacked the enemy in East Anglia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 885 reads as follows: The same year sent King Alfred a fleet from Kent into East Anglia. As soon as they came to Stourmouth, there met them sixteen ships of the pirates, and they fought with them, took all the ships and slew the men. As they returned homeward with their booty, they met a large fleet of pirates and fought with them the same day, but the Danes had the victory. It is possible that Bloody Point at Shotley took its name from this incident, however at that time the river entered the sea north of Felixstowe and so the area would not have been seen as the mouth of the Stour. It could also have derived this name late in the next century when the Vikings returned to the estuary in force, twice plundering Ipswich. Shotley Gate and the parish have a strategic position for protecting the ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich and in 1865 the Shotley Battery fortifications were established. King Edward III camped here early in the Hundred Years War, before the great sea Battle of Sluys. Documents signed by him and kept in the National Archive end with the words "at Shotley". Shotley Gate also harbours HMS Ganges, a former Royal Navy training establishment (RNTE Shotley) for boys. The teak ship was constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1861. It was moved to Shotley in 1899, and by 1905 was moved ashore. A large proportion of the naval ratings of the 20th century, boy entrants in peacetime and men during both World Wars, trained there. The training establishment closed in 1976 and the site was subsequently sold for redevelopment. In June 2011 Babergh District Council declared the site a Conservation Area.The HMS Ganges Museum (open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays between Easter and the end of October 1100 to 1700hrs) houses artefacts and memorabilia from the old shore establishment including a large collection of photographs and original documents.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Shotley Gate (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Shotley Gate
Bristol Hill, Babergh

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.957856 ° E 1.2687452 °
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Bristol Hill

Bristol Hill
IP9 1PU Babergh
England, United Kingdom
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Bristol Hill, B1456, Shotley Gate geograph.org.uk 941537
Bristol Hill, B1456, Shotley Gate geograph.org.uk 941537
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Shotley
Shotley

Shotley is a village and civil parish 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Babergh district and gives its name to the Shotley peninsula between the Rivers Stour and Orwell. The parish includes the village of Shotley and the settlements of Shotley Gate and Church End. In 2011 civil parish had a population of 2,342. The village of Shotley is about a mile northwest from the tip of the peninsula, and lies either side of the B1456 road (the Street). In 2018 it had an estimated population of 854. There are two entries for Shotley (Scoteleia) and an adjacent settlement of Kirkton (Cherchetuna) listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.A school is located outside the village (half of 1 km east) opposite the turning into Oldhall Road. Oldhall Road is located east of the village leading north to St Mary's Church. The church is adjacent to a large naval cemetery cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It has graves from both World Wars, not only those of HMS Ganges trainees, but also of Harwich-based warships killed in action with the Germans. There is a memorial to the dead from the 14-18 Harwich submarines.Shotley Hall is located near to the church. Rose Farm lies to the south of the village. The Shotley Parish Council holds its main meeting at the village hall at 19.15 hours every third Thursday of every month (except August), and meetings are open to the public. Shotley Gate is a settlement to the south of the village of Shotley at the tip of the peninsula. Shotley Gate also harbours HMS Ganges, a former Royal Navy training establishment (RNTE Shotley) for boys.