A settlement is known at Shotley as early as 1262 when the contents of the vill were recorded. At that time eight bondmen, eleven cottagers and a chaplain were listed as tenants. However, there is no proof that there was a village of Shotley and it is likely that the settlement pattern was dispersed, or non-nucleated. The area was devastated by the Scots in 1346. No earthwork remains of a village are visible today.