Guisborough - The Old Cleveland Capital

Guisborough is an attractive market town in rural surroundings and lies just outside the Tees valley on the northern edge of the Cleveland Hills south of Middlesbrough. Anciently Guisborough was the capital of that part of Yorkshire known as Cleveland and is certainly one of the most historic towns in the area. Like so many towns in North Yorkshire and South Durham the town of Guisborough is centred upon a busy market street.

At Guisborough the main street is called Westgate in which we can find a a curious eighteenth century market cross decorated with a sundial and weather vane. Guisborough's beautiful ruined abbey which is the most notable feature of the town can cause confusion to tourists who notice that the name of this building is spelled Gisborough without the `u' that appears in the name of the town. Originating from the twelfth century, the abbey was built by Robert, a member of the De Brus or Bruce family who were important landowners on both sides of the River Tees. Robert De Brus of Skelton was an ancestor of the famous Scottish king Robert the Bruce (1290-1329).

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Roseberry Topping - A Viking Summit

Roseberry Topping is undoubtedly the best known natural landmark in Cleveland and is steeped in local folklore. It can be clearly seen from many parts of rural Cleveland and industrial Teesside and has a distinctive outline. Known as 'The Cleveland Matterhorn'. Roseberry Topping was once used by sailors out at sea as an indicator of changing weather, as the following rhyme records;

"When Roseberry Topping wears a cap,

Let Cleveland then beware of a clap !"

Roseberry Topping was connected with the Vikings, as the word 'Topping', from 'Toppen', is one of a number of old Viking words for a hill, but the original Viking name for Roseberry Topping was Odins-Beorge meaning Odin's Hill. Roseberry may have been a centre for the worship of the Viking god Odin in Pagan times. Over the years, the name changed to Othensberg, Ohenseberg, Ounsberry and Ouesberry. Association with the village then called Newton-under-Ouseberry at the foot of the hill led to the modern name Roseberry when the final 'R' of 'under' produced the initial letter of the modern name. Newton under Ouseberry is now called Newton under Roseberry. Rosberry Topping also has an association with Osmotherley.

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Captain Cook

Great Ayton, near Roseberry Topping is the place where the budding young sailor James Cook went to school when he lived as a boy at the nearby Aireyholme Farm at the foot of Roseberry Topping. On Easby Moor to the south east of Great Ayton there is an imposing monument to his honour. James Cook was actually born a little further north at Marton, now a subburb of Middlesbrough on the 27th October 1728 and late moved to Staithes, but it was as a young man that he began working for a Whitby shipowner employed on Colliers shipping coals from the River Tyne to London. After learning basic seamanship, he joined the navy at the age of 27 and soon gained a reputation for his chart making skills.

Cook had a desire to explore new lands and in 1769 he was asked to command HM Bark Endeavbour on an expedition that took him to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia where he named the territory of New South Wales. On his return to England in 1771, he was promoted from lieutenant to Captain and set sail the following year in search of the great southern continent, voyaging as far as the Antarctic Circle. This was a journey that took him further south than anyone else had ever been before. He then returned home to England.

Cook's last voyage was to prove fatal. Leaving England on the 25th June 1776 on board the Resolution and accompanied by the Discovery, Cook went on to discover Hawaii and the Cook Inlet of Alaska. On return to Hawaii where his ship stopped for provisions, Cook unfortunately lost his life on the 14th February 1779, following an affray between local tribesmen and members of his crew. There is a legend recited by local tourist guides on the island of Hawaii that the place where Cook met his death is the only part of the United States of America which still belongs to Great Britain, a mark of respect to the great explorer.

Stewart Park, Marton, Middlesbrough, is today the site of the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, which has a number of displays connected with the life of the great sailor and the places he visited. A vase made of Granite from Point Hicks, Australia stands close to the museum marking the site of the thatched cottage where Cook was born.

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Read more about North East history in the Timeline