Shotley Gate and HMS Ganges

Shotley Gate is one of the most interesting and significant places on the Shotley Peninsula, and is at the very end of the peninsula.

From Shotley Point, there are superb views across the Orwell and Stour Rivers, over to the busy ports of Felixstowe (the largest container port in the country), and to Harwich and Parkeston Quay, one of the country’s busiest cruise liner ports. 

 

There are exceptional views across to Landguard Point, where you can find Landguard Fort, an important piece of military history and architecture. 
   
Shotley Point was destined to have strong connections with the Navy. Originally an Anglo Saxon settlement, Shotley Gate saw its first naval battle in AD885, when Alfred, King of Wessex fought off Guthrum the Dane’s invading army. It was at Shotley Point, that the wooden ship HMS Ganges, was berthed from 1899, and used as a cadet training ship for the Royal Navy. When the Ganges vessel was finally retired (and towed away to Chatham), the training facility, still named HMS Ganges, moved ashore (in 1905). The facility remained there until its closure in June 1976, when its training function moved to HMS Raleigh, Torpoint, Cornwall. More than 150,000 Navy recruits passed through the gates of HMS Ganges. It was later opened as a police training centre, but this too came to an end in the 1990s. The mast of the HMS Ganges still stands on the now-derelict site, which is proposed to be developed in the near future.

   

There is now a small but very interesting naval museum dedicated to HMS Ganges, in the picturesque setting of Shotley Marina. Details of the HMS Ganges Ascociation and the museum can be found at the following link www.hmsgangesassoc.org/rnteshotley.html . 
   
Shotley Church

St. Mary’s Church, Shotley is delightfully positioned on the high ground overlooking the low lying fresh water meadows of Shotley Marshes. It is located at the end of an unclassified road north of the B1456 between Chelmondiston and Shotley, strangely removed from the main population hotspots of Shotley Street and Shotley Gate. 


          
Outside the church, the large churchyard descends steeply towards the Orwell estuary, and there are simply hundreds of military graves, mainly Royal Navy, but also some for German sailors who were killed near here. It is the last resting place to many generations of seamen. 
     


Right next door to Shotley is the small but beautiful village of Erwarton:

Erwarton Hall

Erwarton Hall was built during the late sixteenth century, and is said to have been one of the first great English country houses to be built in brick. It also has a superb gatehouse, which was built about 100 year after the main building. The hall has strong historical links with Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife. The original Tudor mansion was owned by Sir Philip Calthorpe whose wife was Aunt to Ann Boleyn. It is known that Ann spent some of her childhood at the Hall and it is thought likely that Henry VIII visited her there.



The two wings were demolished by the new owner, Sir Philip Parker, and the materials used to rebuild the main part in 1575. It changed hands again in 1786 to William Berners. The legend of Ann Boleyn’s heart being buried in Erwarton perhaps began when she is reputed to have said shortly before her execution that the happiest days of her life were spent at the Hall. In 1838 a heart-shaped casket containing dust was found buried in the north wall of the beauiful 15th Century St Mary’s Church. The casket was re-buried under the organ. The Hall is in private ownership and not open to the public. 

More information.