Although no evidence of settlement has been found in Shildon itself a small flint tool discovered in the nearby Brusselton area may be from this period.

Possible evidence of Roman infrastructure has been uncovered in the area such as Hagg's Lane which passes through Brusselton Wood.

[9] In March 1940, Leading Stoker C. Anderson of Shildon was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for 'displaying good leadership' while serving in the submarine HMS Ursula.

[6] In 1818 notice was given in the London Gazette '...that application is intended to be made to Parliament in the next session, for an Act for making and maintaining a 'rail-way or tram-road from the River Tees, at or near Stockton, in the county of Durham', with Shildon listed as one of the towns on the planned route.

When I surveyed the lines of the projected railway in 1821, the site of this New Shildon Works was a wet, swampy field – a likely place to find a snipe, or a flock of peewits.

The grade II listed stables were built in the early 19th century at the point where the branch lines met from the Black Boy Colliery and Surtees Railway.

[6] In a letter to his sister, Timothy Hackworth Jr. describes the scene in the vicinity of the works:[25] I have just had a walk on the spoil bank for a few minutes.

The men are now getting their gardens put into order and besides the Company have commenced making a reservoir on the top of the hill just opposite the works and hope they do not mean to drown us out of the place.

[6] To mark fifty years of the railway, The Northern Echo published an article which included this description of the town:[26] Shildon is one of the ugliest places on the earth's fair surface.

Engines are plying about with restless activity, like spiders running along the threads of their nets seeking for hapless flies.A strike in 1911 saw violent scenes in the town and British troops deployed to maintain order.

Wagons in the sidings had their brakes undone and freewheeled for miles, railway signal cables were damaged and the cavalry had to be called.

The collieries upon which they lived have already been not merely closed down but dismantled, and if now, on the top of that, you are going to permit of the transference of the railway shops, I tremble to think what will be the future of that once prosperous township".The Soho works laid derelict since the 1940s and were scheduled for demolition in the 1970s when many of the buildings fell into disrepair.

[30] David Mitchell MP, Transport Under-Secretary, opened the Hackworth Industrial Park on the site of the wagon works in 1985.

In 1827 Daniel Adamson, landlord of the nearby Grey Horse pub, had a horse-drawn railway coach called Perseverance which ran between Shildon and Darlington.

George Stephenson overcame this by setting up stationary steam engines on the hilltops to haul the coal wagons over.

One engine was at Etherley, this brought the wagons from Witton Park and lowered them down the slope to West Auckland.

A large drum hanging above the road holding a rope pulled the wagons over the incline and to the locomotive waiting in Shildon.

[34] The enginemen at the top of the incline were told when wagons (a mile and a half distant) were ready to make the ascent by means of a disc on the end of a tall pole.

For this reason young boys were employed to stand at the side of the track and run alongside in the event of a runaway wagon, jump aboard and apply the brake.

At the bottom of the incline men were positioned with tree trunks and huge blocks of wood to cause a deliberate derailment in the event of an emergency by throwing them on the line.

The bridge is now gone but a 1925 article from the Northern Echo offers a description of what early rail passengers would have experienced.

These early railway bridges had not much headway, and the conductors of the coaches found it necessary when approaching them to shout to the passengers on the top 'heads down'.

"On 23 April 1839[14] construction of the Shildon Tunnel (the south portal is Grade II listed[35]) was started.

The project received £2 million from the European Regional Development Fund along with grant aid from a number of groups.

[39] Shildon is part of the Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Sam Rushworth of the Labour Party.

[48] In November 2003, the club reached the FA Cup first round for the first time in 42 years, when in 1962 they lost 5–2 away to Oldham Athletic.

[56] The club runs age level teams in the North East Junior League[citation needed].

Shildon Railway Cricket Club joined the NYSD premiere league in the 2015 season,[58] and won the 3rd division at the first attempt[citation needed].

[59] The signal box was built in 1887 (with alterations made in 1928 and 1984) and was possibly designed by Thomas Prosser is grade II listed.

[61][62] Shildon is served by bus services operated by Arriva North East and Scarlet Band.