The River Trent below Shardlow is navigable all the way to the Humber Estuary, as is the River Soar which joins further down stream. Resultantly Shardlow was always an important transport hub and trading point, as wide-beam ships and boats traded cargo commercially with the packhorse trails going across the region. The tariffs charged for goods proceeding through the port enabled industrialist Leonard Fosbrooke to build Shardlow Hall, and later led to skirmishes being fought locally during the English Civil War for control of the strategic transport hub.