Haverton Hill | |
---|---|
![]() Belasis Lane | |
Location within County Durham | |
OS grid reference | NZ485227 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BILLINGHAM |
Postcode district | TS23 |
Police | Cleveland |
Fire | Cleveland |
Ambulance | North East |
Haverton Hill is an area within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. Once considered a part of Billingham, Haverton Hill was once a thriving industrial community which has suffered significant depopulation since the 1960s as a result of pollution.
It is situated to the north of the River Tees, near Billingham. The A1046 is the main road linking to Stockton and the A19 in the west and Port Clarence and the A178 in the east.
In 1828 Haverton Hill was a small hamlet. The settlement along with adjoining, Port Clarence, grew as a result of the Clarence Railway opening in 1833. The railway, owned by Christopher Tennant, was a rival to the Stockton and Darlington Railway and transported coal from the Durham coalfields to colliers for shipment to places like London. Haverton Hill and Port Clarence were chosen as termini as the river at that stretch was deep enough to accommodate ships. Further upstream near Stockton-on-Tees, navigation was extremely difficult due to shallow waters. Directly opposite, on the other side of the River Tees, the Stockton and Darlington Railway was, for the same reason, extended, in 1830, to Middlesbrough .
The Clarence railway used track belonging to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, between Shildon and the coal mines. Rivalry between the two railway companies hindered the prosperity of the Clarence Railway, despite its shorter distance to the coalfields, and prevented Haverton Hill and Port Clarence from growing as quickly as Middlesbrough.
Between 1833 and 1850 small scale industries such as an iron works followed by glass works sprang up in Haverton Hill, making use of the improved transportation.
In 1850, iron was discovered in Eston Hills, south of the River Tees, which was a further stimulus to the area, especially Middlesbrough, which already had many iron foundries built by John Vaughan and Henry Bolckow.
In 1860 Haverton Hill became a parish.
In 1861 Vaughan and Bolckow discovered salt deposits near Middlesbrough, but it was deemed not economically viable to extract. This prompted John Bell, in 1874, to drill north of the river where he discovered a vast salt bed at Saltholme Farm, near to Haverton Hill. Improved techniques for salt extraction were developed in 1882 which led to salt exploitation by Bell Brothers and other companies. This new industry led to further growth of Haverton Hill and neighbouring settlements with the salt industry building housing for its workers.
Haverton Hill Road opening ceremony was held on October 15th1905.
Casebourne's established a cement works on the Tees bank in 1904. [1] A further stimulus for Haverton Hill's growth took place in 1917 when the Furness shipyard (Haverton Hill shipyard) was authorised to be built in order to replace ships sunk by German U-boats in the First World War. The first ship was launched in 1919, named 'War Energy'. A model village or garden city was built to accommodate 500 men as skilled labour for the shipyard.
In 1920 the Brunner Mond company, already having a salt extraction industry in the locality, diversified into producing fertiliser by setting up the company, Synthetic Ammonia and Nitrates Ltd. Brunner Mond in 1926 amalgamated with three other companies to form the Imperial Chemical Industries.
ICI rapidly expanded its presence in the area over the next few decades, and in 1928 took over the Casebourne's cement works, which used byproducts from the fertiliser plant as a raw material.
Atmospheric pollution, primarily from a Boiler and Sulphuric Acid Plant built by I.C.I. became a major concern after the Second World War. This led to the total demolition of the residential houses in Haverton Hill during the 1960s and 1970s with the bulk of its population being moved to nearby Billingham.
Today, a light industrial estate occupies the site of Haverton Hill. The nearby I.C.I. plants responsible for most of the pollution have now been demolished. Haverton Hill is in the Stockton North parliamentary constituency. Haverton Hill is hard to access without a motor vehicle but there is an infrequent bus service run by the Stagecoach Group which travels through Haverton Hill Road. Both the number 1 and 34 bus services are on the Haverton Hill route. [2] [3] There are also cycle paths on each side of Haverton Hill Road.
The River Tees, in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for 85 miles (137 km) to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has been tied with the industries on Teesside in its lower reaches, where it has provided the means of import and export of goods to and from the North East England. The need for water further downstream also meant that reservoirs were built in the extreme upper reaches, such as Cow Green.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darlington and Stockton in County Durham, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a new port at Middlesbrough. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833.
Middlesbrough is a town in the Middlesbrough unitary authority borough of North Yorkshire, England. The town lies near the mouth of the River Tees and north of the North York Moors National Park. The built-up area had a population of 148,215 at the 2021 UK census. It is the largest town of the wider Teesside area, which had a population of 376,633 in 2011.
Teesside is a built-up area around the River Tees in North East England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The area contains the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, Redcar, Thornaby-on-Tees, and Ingleby Barwick. Teesside's economy was once dominated by heavy manufacturing until deindustrialisation in the latter half of the 20th Century, alongside chemical production which continues to contribute significantly to Teesside's economy.
Billingham is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority. It had a population of 35,165 in the 2011 Census.
The Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
Port Clarence is a small village in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It is on the north bank of the River Tees, and near the northern end of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge.
Thornaby is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn via Darlington. The station, situated 3 miles 17 chains (5.2 km) south-west of Middlesbrough, serves the market town of Thornaby-on-Tees, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by TransPennine Express.
Stockton is a railway station on the Durham Coast Line, which runs between Newcastle and Middlesbrough via Hartlepool. The station, situated 5 miles 45 chains (9.0 km) west of Middlesbrough, serves the market town of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
Billingham is a railway station on the Durham Coast Line, which runs between Newcastle and Middlesbrough via Hartlepool. The station, situated 10 miles 8 chains (16.3 km) north-west of Middlesbrough, serves the town of Billingham, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
Thornaby TMD was a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Thornaby, England, latterly operated by DB Schenker. The depot was situated to the east of Thornaby, on the northern side of the line to Middlesbrough.
The Teesside Football League was a football competition based in northern England. Established in 1891, it was dissolved in 2017 when it merged with the Eskvale & Cleveland League to form the North Riding Football League. At the end of its existence the league was placed at level 11 of the English football league system, with clubs being promoted to Division Two of the Northern League.
John Vaughan, known as Jacky, was born in Worcester on "St Thomas' Day" in 1799, the son of Welsh parents. He worked his way up the iron industry, becoming an ironmaster and co-founder of the largest of all the Victorian iron and steel companies, Bolckow Vaughan. Where Henry Bolckow provided the investment and business expertise, Vaughan contributed technical knowledge, in a long-lasting and successful partnership that transformed Middlesbrough from a small town to the centre of ironmaking in Britain.
The Billingham Manufacturing Plant is a large chemical works based in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England. In agricultural terms, it is one of the most important factories in Britain.
The Clarence Railway was an early railway company that operated in north-east England between 1833 and 1853. The railway was built to take coal from mines in County Durham to ports on the River Tees and was a competitor to the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). It suffered financial difficulty soon after it opened because traffic was low and the S&DR charged a high rate for transporting coal to the Clarence, and the company was managed by the Exchequer Loan Commissioners after July 1834. An extension of the Byers Green branch was opened in 1839 by the independent West Durham Railway to serve collieries in Weardale.
Tees Marshalling Yard is a railway marshalling yard, used to separate railway wagons, located near Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, Northern England.
Thomas Richardson (1771–1853) was a shareholder and director of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, a partner in Robert Stephenson & Co. and a founding member of the Owners of the Middlesbrough Estate.
Norton-on-Tees railway station served the town of Norton, County Durham, England from 1877 to 1960, originally on the Port Clarence Branch of the Clarence Railway.
Belasis Lane railway station served the ICI Billingham Manufacturing Plant in the town of Billingham, County Durham, England from 1928 to 1964 on the Port Clarence branch of the former Clarence Railway which had become part of the London and North Eastern Railway by the time the station opened.
Middlesbrough started as a Benedictine priory on the south bank of the River Tees, its name possibly derived from it being midway between the holy sites of Durham and Whitby. The earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name is "Mydilsburgh", containing the term burgh.
Haverton Hill : Port Clarence to Billingham by Colin H. Hatton, 2005 ISBN 0-7524-3425-X