Middlesbrough and surrounds
Above: Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough - photo David Simpson
Read more about Teesside's history in the Timeline
Cargo Fleet - An Old Cleveland Port
Although Middlesbrough was not born until 1829 nearby Cargo Fleet, was a place of some importance in medieval times and was the site of a fishing port called Kaldecotes situated at the point where the Marton and Ormesby Becks joined the River Tees. Before its medieval development the Anglo-Saxon name Kaldecotes meant 'the cold-shelter cottages', a place of refuge where fishermen or travellers could shelter from the wild winter weather. Somehow the name Caldecotes was corrupted into Cawker, then into Caudgatefleet and finally Cargo Fleet. During the eighteenth century Cargo Fleet was also known as Cleveland Port and was the point where large ships off-loaded their cargoes onto fleets of smaller vessels. From here these smaller vessels were able to continue the journey along the River Tees to Stockton which was the main port in the area. Today the site of Kaldecotes is lost among the heavy industry of the district and has been swallowed up by the expansion of Middlesbrough.
Mydilsburgh is the earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name and dates to Saxon times. 'Burgh' refers to an ancient settlement, or perhaps a fort of pre-Saxon origin which may have been situated on slightly elevated land close to the Tees. 'Mydil' was either the name of an Anglo-Saxon or a reference to Middlesbrough's middle location, half way between the Christian centres of Durham and Whitby. In Anglo-Saxon times Middlesbrough was certainly the site of a chapel or cell belonging to Whitby Abbey but despite this early activity, Middlesbrough was still only a small farm of twenty five people as late as 1801.
In 1829 a group of Quaker businessmen headed by Joseph Pease of Darlington purchased this Middlesbrough farmstead and its estate and set about the development of what they termed `Port Darlington' on the banks of the Tees nearby. A town was planned on the site of the farm to supply labour to the new coal port - Middlesbrough was born.
Joseph Pease, `the father of Middlesbrough' was the son of Edward Pease, the man behind the Stockton and Darlington Railway. By 1830 this famous line had been extended to Middlesbrough, making the rapid expansion of the town and port inevitable. In 1828 Joseph Pease had predicted there would be a day when;
"..the bare fields would be covered with a busy multitude with vessels crowding the banks of a busy seaport".
His prophecy was to prove true, the small farmstead became the site of North Street, South Street, West Street, East Street, Commercial Street, Stockton Street, Cleveland Street, Durham Street, Richmond Street, Gosford Street, Dacre Street, Feversham Street and Suffield Street, all laid out on a grid-iron pattern centred on a Market Square.
New businesses quickly bought up premises and plots of land in the new town and soon shippers, merchants, butchers, innkeepers, joiners, blacksmiths, tailors, builders and painters were moving in. Labour was employed, staithes and wharves were built, workshops were constructed and lifting engines installed. Indeed such was the growth of this port that in 1846 one local writer observed;
"To the stranger visiting his home after an abscence of fifteen years, this proud array of ships, docks, warehouses, churches, foundries and wharfs would seem like some enchanted spectacle, some Arabian Night's vision."
By 1851 Middlesbrough's population had grown from 40 people in 1829 to 7,600 and it was rapidly replacing Stockton as the main port on the Tees. An old Teesside proverb had proven true; -
In 1850 Iron ore was discovered in the Cleveland Hills near Eston to the south of Middlesbrough and Iron gradually replaced coal as the lifeblood of the town. The ore was discovered by John Vaughan, the principal ironmaster of Middlesbrough who along with his German business partner Henry Bolckow had already established a small iron foundry and rolling mill at Middlesbrough using iron stone from Durham and the Yorkshire coast. The new discovery of iron ore on their doorstep prompted them to build Teesside's first blast furnace in 1851.
Iron was now in big demand in Britain, particularly for the rapid expansion of the railways being built in every part of the country. More and more blast furnaces were opened in the vicinity of Middlesbrough to meet this demand and by the end of the century Teesside was producing about a third of the nation's iron output.
The status of Bolckow and Vaughan reached great heights in Middlesbrough and in 1853 Bolckow became the town's first mayor and fifteen years later became its first M.P. The development of Middlesbrough as an `Iron Town' spurred on its continuous growth and by 1860 its population had increased to an incredible 20,000. Two years later, the town was visited by the Victorian minister Gladstone who remarked;
"This remarkable place, the youngest child of England's enterprise, is an infant, but if an infant, an infant Hercules"
By the 1870s, steel, a much stronger and more resilient metal was in big demand and Middlesbrough had to compete with Sheffield. In 1875 Bolckow and Vaughan opened the first Bessemer Steel plant in Middlesbrough. At first phosphorous ores had to be imported from Spain for the making of the steel, but by 1879 methods were developed which could use local iron ores. The Tees was destined to become 'the Steel River'. In 1881 one commentator described how the ironstone of the Eston Hills processed at Middlesbrough, had been used in the building of structures throughout the world.;
The iron of Eston has diffused itself all over the world. It furnishes the railways of the world; it runs by Neapolitan and papal dungeons; it startles the bandit in his haunt in Cicilia; it crosses over the plains of Africa; it stretches over the plains of India. It has crept out of the Cleveland Hills where it has slept since Roman days, and now like a strong and invincible serpent, coils itself around the world. Sir H.G Reid
Bridges of Tees, Tyne and Sydney Harbour
Associated with the making of steel on Teesside is the construction of bridges, one of the industries for which the area has achieved international recognition. Chief among the bridge building firms was Dorman Long, a firm which began as an iron and steel works in 1875 manufacturing bars and angles for ships. A natural progression from this was to become involved in the construction of bridges particularly when Dorman Long took over the concerns of Bell Brothers and Bolckow and Vaughan in the late 1920s.
The most famous bridge ever constructed on Teesside was Dorman Long's Sydney Harbour Bridge of 1932. This was partly modelled on the 1929 Tyne Bridge, a construction regarded as the symbol of Tyneside's Geordie pride, but also a product of Dorman Long's Teesside workmanship. The great example of Dorman Long's work on Teesside itself is of course the single span Newport Lifting Bridge. Opened by the Duke of York in February 1934 it was England's first vertical lifting bridge. With a lifting span of 270 feet and 66 feet in length it is constructed from 8000 tons of Teesside steel and 28,000 tons of concrete with towers 170 feet high. The electrically operated lifting mechanism allowed the road to be lifted 100 feet in one and a half minutes by means of ropes passing through sheaves in the four corner towers.
The most notable Teesside Bridge is the Transporter Bridge, which was designed by the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company of Darlington and opened on 17th October 1911, by Prince Arthur of Connaught. A kind of a cross between a ferry and a bridge, vehicles are transported across the river by means of a moving car which is capable of carrying 600 persons or 9 vehicles across the Tees to Port Clarence in two and a half minutes. Like the later Newport Bridge it was designed to facilitate the movement of ships along the River Tees. It has a 160 feet clearance above the river.
The Incredible Growth of Middlesbrough
The expanding iron and steel industry of Middlesbrough in the 1860s and 1870s spurred on the growth of Middlesbrough with a population of 19,000 in 1861 increasing to 40,000 only ten years later. The residents of this early town came mainly from neighbouring Yorkshire and the North East, but later from Cheshire, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and a some European countries.
At the turn of the century Middlesbrough's population had more than doubled to 90,000 and it must have been hard to believe that only seventy years earlier the town did not exist. Today Middlesbrough has a population of 150,000 and is undoubtedly the heart of the Teesside connurbation and the modern `Capital' of the area. In English history nothing compares to Middlesbrough's rapid growth. It is no wonder that Middlesbrough has been described as the `oldest new town' in England.
Middlesbrough Today and 'Over the Border'
Middlesbrough's town centre today is quite different from the original town planned by Joseph Pease and Partners in 1829. The early town, now called 'St Hilda's' after the parish church that stood here until 1969, was centred on a market square, where the first town hall was built in 1846. Immediately to the south of this early town, lay the railway line and station of 1877. As Middlesbrough grew, its boundaries quickly expanded south of the railway, leaving the old town somewhat isolated between the railway and river. Gradually the centre of commerce, trade and local government shifted south of the railway and in 1899, the old town hall, was succeeded by the grand structure, in Corporation Road.
The town hall and its municipal buildings vaguely resemble the Houses of Parliament and are still an impressive headquarters for local government in Middlesbrough. At the turn of the century, Linthorpe Road, also south of the railway, had become the main shopping street. This road followed the course of an old country route from Linthorpe to Middlesbrough called Linthorpe Lane. Today Linthorpe Road, along with Albert Road, Grange Road and Corporation Road, form the modern centre of Middlesbrough, with the University, the Central Library, the Law Courts, radio stations, shopping centres, car parks and busy shopping streets all located within easy reach.
'Over the border', to the north of the railway, some features of the earlier town can still be seen. Middlesbrough's oldest pub, the Ship Inn, in Stockton Street is still there as is the old Town Hall, which has seen better days. More impressive are the Georgian style houses, (now offices) in Queens Terrace, which belonged to the first Middlesbrough owners and nearby, the one time house of the ironmasters Bolckow and Vaughan. From here a short walk leads to the magnificent Transporter Bridge, ensuring that the old part of town still gets some of the attention.
Cleveland means the cliffland or hilly district, as the word cliff in its old sense referred to rolling hills rather than steep faced cliffs. Cleveland is an ancient name and is not to be confused with the County of Cleveland created in 1974. Cleveland was a district of northern Yorkshire situated entirely south of the River Tees. The earliest record of the name Cleveland was in the twelfth century when the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada is said to have landed in the part of Yorkshire called Cliffland.
Cleveland was an important area of Viking settlement and was in all likelihood one of the earliest parts of Britain to be occupied by these Nordic invaders. It is arguable that old Cleveland and its coast have the highest density of Scandinavian parish names in Britain. Place names of Viking origin are abundant in the area with notable examples including Thornaby, Ormesby, Stainsby, Lackenby, Maltby, Tollesby and Lazenby which now form subburbs of Middlesbrough, but were once separate villages that belonged to Vikings called Thormad, Orm, Steinn, Hlakkande, Malti and Toll. Lazenby was the village belonging to a Leysingr - a freeman, Normanby, a Norseman's village and Danby a Dane's village.
Other Viking place names in the Cleveland area include Barnaby, Easby, Boosbeck, Yearby, Hutthwaite, Loftus, Skinningrove and Swainby. Even the name of Ayresome, once so familiar to followers of Middlesbrough Football Club, has a Viking name which derives from the Old Norse Ar Husum - meaning the `River Houses'.
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).
The district known as Langbaurgh has ancient origins and takes its name from the long ridge-like hill called Langbaurgh, a few miles south west of Guisborough in the Cleveland Hills. The name has two parts 'Lang' meaning 'long' and 'Beorge' meaning 'hill'. Langbaurgh was a place of significance in historic times when it was the central meeting place of a Wappentake, or Viking settled district.
The ridge was a meeting point where the Vikings of the district assembled to discusss local affairs. In this respect Langbaurgh was similar to Sadberge on the north side of the Tees. Wappentakes continued as administrative districts into medieval times when some new wappentakes were created. These included Whitby Strand, annexed from part of Langbaurgh. Later, Langbaurgh wappentake was divided into two parts called East and West Langbaurgh with Roseberry Topping and Ayton Moor on the border between the two. For many centuries the whole wappentake was known by its other ancient name - Cleveland.
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.
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.
Redcar, situated on the Cleveland coast at the mouth of the River Tees was in early times a 'poore fishing toune', overshadowed by its neighbour Coatham, which held a market and fair from 1257. The extension of the railway to Redcar from Teesside in 1846 brought industry and growth to Redcar's doorstep and brought tourists into the neighbourhood. Like nearby Saltburn, Redcar is still frequented by day trippers in search of the scent of the sea but the biggest attraction is undoubtedly the Race Course which the town has grown around.
Redcar is less known as the home of the world's oldest lifeboat called The Zetland which is displayed in the museum of that name in King Street. It was built around 1810 by Henry Greathead of South Shields and worked at Spurn Head until it was bought by Redcar fishermen in 1802. The Zetland was built twenty years after the first ever lifeboat which was also built at South Shields.
The Tees Estuary and Seal Sands
To the north of Redcar, the entrance to the Tees estuary is clearly marked on the coast by the pier breakwaters on either side of the river estuary. These are the half mile long North Gare and the two and a half mile long South Gare. The gares were built following a great storm in 1861 in which 50 vessels were wrecked on the sand bars between Redcar and Hartlepool in the vicinity of the estuary. Both Gares are under the management of the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority and the South Gare is the sight of a Coastguard station which monitors the busy shipping activity of the estuary.
The Tees estuary is one of the biggest on the North Eastern coast and is dominated on either side by the large areas of reclaimed industrial land called Seal Sands on the northern bank and Bran Sands on the southern bank. Seal Sands is the site of an Oil Refinery and a Chemical Works. The two hundred and twenty mile long EKOFISK oil pipeline has its terminus at Seal Sands by which oil and gas liquids are piped ashore from the Ekofisk oilfield for processing at one of the largest plants of its kind in the world. Today oil exporting is one of Teesside's most important industries.
Despite all the heavy industry the Tees estuary is surprisingly important for its wildlife. Seal Sands now only half its original size due to land reclamation is still the Winter home to thousands of wildfowl and waders. Seals may still be seen `basking' in their man made surroundings. Autumn and Winter is the best time of the year for viewing wildlife at the Tees estuary. The main species are Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Ruffs, Greenshanks, Wood Sandpipers, Bar-Tailed Godwits and Whimbrels. In Winter time Golden Plovers may also be seen but Winter is best for Duck-Watching when the main species are Shoveler Ducks, Widgeon, Long-Tailed Ducks, Goldeneye and Teal.
Above Steel River by David Simpson, a book about the River Tees
Read more about North East history in the Timeline
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