Snows Green Cottages

The hamlet of Snows Green has existed at least since the eighteenth century, for above the door of number 83, a stone plaque is inscribed “Anno Domini 1797”. 

These cottages were originally tied to the Shotley Park stately home, built by Jonathan Richardson, the founder of Shotley Spa. The second cottage from the top, with 5 windows, was formerly a school for the estate workers’ children. The teacher’s cottage was attached below. There used to be an internal door between the two. The top cottage was built on the site of the school yard. The cottage at the bottom of the terrace was home to the seamstress and next door was the groom’s cottage.

The name Snows Green possibly dates back to the sixteenth century when Thomas Snow owned land here and when his name first appeared in the Halmote Court Roll.

Mr Andrew Houliston recalled that there was a humped back bridge over the Snows Green burn and “one had to hold on tightly when crossing in a horse and cart, to avoid being thrown off!” and “a ford alongside the bridge had stepping stones.”

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