Shotley Heritage Park

In late 2012, having successfully purchased Shotley Cliff and around 50 acres of attached foreshore from a local businessman, Shotley Parish Council with the assistance of the Shotley Stour Footpath Renovation Group began a programme of land management in the area with a view to turning the cliff, the woodland on top of it and parts of the surrounding area into "Shotley Heritage Park", a country park with a number of delineated and non delineated walks and features. The intention is eventually to have information boards throughout the area portraying its historical associations and local ecology, as well as a number of viewing and seating areas for rest and relaxation. The centrepiece will be a viewing gallery sited in a concrete structure overlooking the river, which is currrently in ruins. The SSFRG are attempting to precisely identify the structure, which dates back at least to World War II when the area was owned by the Navy, but it was almost certainly a part of coastal fortifications and is widely believed to have been a gun emplacement.

The woodland on the cliff is home to a variety of species of flora and fauna, including a colony of Muntjac deer.