Britain's most complete surviving example of a canal village
Shardlow in South Derbyshire is south-east of Derby and was once a considerable inland port on the River Trent. Today, Shardlow is considered Britain’s most complete surviving example of a canal village, with over fifty Grade II listed buildings and many surviving public houses within the designated Shardlow Wharf Conservation Area.
In its heyday from the 1770s to the 1840s the village became referred to as ‘Rural Rotterdam’ and ‘Little Liverpool’.
In 1999 the 12 feet long (3.7m) 1300 BC Hanson, a Bronze Age log boat, was discovered at the nearby Hanson Plc gravel pit and is now located in the Derby Museum & Art Gallery in Derby city. Five years later a bronze sword, embedded in a vertical position in the gravel, was also unearthed.
Shardlow’s impressive collection of warehouses and boat owner’s houses, with the waterway as a backbone, give it a distinct character and a strong sense of place. Nearby places to visit include Shardlow Heritage Centre and Elvaston Castle & Country Park
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Shardlow
Derbyshire
DE72 2GR
