Kettleness

Last updated

Kettleness
Kettleness - geograph.org.uk - 1604.jpg
Kettleness
North Yorkshire UK location map (2023).svg
Red pog.svg
Kettleness
Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid reference NZ831155
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Whitby
Postcode district YO21
Police North Yorkshire
Fire North Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
54°31′44″N0°43′05″W / 54.5290°N 0.7181°W / 54.5290; -0.7181

Kettleness, is a hamlet in the Scarborough District of North Yorkshire, England. The settlement only consists of half-a-dozen houses, [1] [2] but up until the early 19th century, it was a much larger village. However, most of that village, which was on the headland, slipped into the sea as a result of instability caused by quarrying for the alum industry. Kettleness became a smaller settlement, with houses rebuilt slightly further inland.

Contents

Historically, the hamlet has had an alum works, a jet mining industry and ironstone workings. The hamlet used to have a railway station on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway, that was open between 1883 and 1958. Kettleness is recorded within the parish of Lythe for census purposes. [3]

History

Kettleness is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, but the neighbouring settlement of Goldsborough is, [4] and both were in the Wapentake of Langbaurgh. [5] The hamlet takes its name from the nearby headland Kettle Ness, but the hamlet is stylised as Kettleness on mapping. [6] The name is thought to derive from Old Norse, where the Kettle part comes from the word Kettil which describes a pot or cauldron. In this sense, the cauldron refers to the cauldron of water around the headland. The Ness derives from the Viking word for headland. [7]

Kettle Ness is at the eastern end of Runswick Bay, and the cliffs rise to over 375 feet (114 m) above sea level. [8] [9] The present hamlet was built in the 1830s after the collapse of the former village into the sea in 1829. [10] The hamlet is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the A174 road, [11] 7 miles (11 km) north east of Whitby and 15 miles (24 km) south east of Guisborough. [12] A chapel-of-ease to the Church of St Oswald, Lythe, was built in 1872 for £300. [13] The building was designed in the Early English style [14] and constructed from Aislaby Stone (a local sandstone) with a Welsh slate roof; [15] most buildings have the distinctive red pantile roofs that the area is renowned for. [16] Whilst the hamlet is in the ecclesiastical parish of Lythe, as well as the civil parish of Lythe, [17] the chapel has since been converted into a recording studio. [18]

The hamlet used to have a railway station opened in 1883, on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway between Loftus and Whitby West Cliff railway station. [19] This served the nearby village of Goldsborough too, and in 1911, the North Eastern Railway estimated the local population to be 54 people. [20] Both the station and railway line were closed in May 1958 due to the high costs of maintenance on the tunnels and bridges. [21] The station building is now used by scouting and outward bounds groups. [22]

During the First World War, a field to the east of the hamlet was used by the Royal Naval Air Service as a refuelling point for aircraft transiting up the east coast. [23] [24] As the location was directly on the coast, it was also used as a base for inshore reconnaissance patrols, though there is no evidence of any squadrons being based there. [25] After the war, the site was used as a coastguard station. [26]

Geology and industry

Kettle Ness with a glimpse of the disused quarries. Kettleness - geograph.org.uk - 455363.jpg
Kettle Ness with a glimpse of the disused quarries.

As at other locations on the Cleveland coast, the underlying geology has an abundance of mineral resources. The Upper Lias consists of alum shales, jet rock, cement shales, and ironstone. [27]

The headland was previously the site of the original village and the alum works, which started quarrying c. 1727. [28] The site of the alum works and the associated buildings are now designated as a scheduled monument, and were among the last on this stretch of the coast to stop working, with closure coming in 1861. [29] At its peak, between 1805 and 1817, the workings were outputting 900 tonnes (990 tons) of alum per year. [30] As it took 50 tonnes (55 tons) of shale to make one tonne (1.1 tons) of alum, the headland was quarried extensively, and the workings caused the original settlement to collapse into the sea on 17 December 1829. [31] The villagers had enough time to evacuate as the landslide was quite slow moving, and they sought refuge on a ship (The Henry), anchored in the bay that had come to load up with alum. [32] [33] The slump revealed a new area of shale which could be used to make alum, so a new set of works was built the following year, and the houses of the workers built further inland. [34]

Besides alum and ironstone mining, the cliffs have supported a small jet industry, which still entices people to look for the stone along the headland. [35] [36] The ironstone at Kettleness was worked in two sites; between 1838 and 1857, stone was won directly from the cliffs and beach being loaded onto ships directly in the bay, though this was described as a "hazardous operation". [37] Ironstone was shipped to the Wylam furnaces of Losh, Wilson and Bell. [38] The other mine was located west of the hamlet and operated between 1910 and 1915, with the ironstone being forwarded to Skinningrove Ironworks by rail. [39] [40] The geology and abundance of fossils have attracted many to this area. One of the most notable finds was the skeleton of a plesiosaur in 1883. [41]

Legends and culture

Kettleness is on a trail established between Whitby and the hamlet with tales of the supernatural, some imagined and some claimed as real, such as a black dog (known as a barghest), which supposedly influenced Bram Stoker to put a black dog in his novel, Dracula. [42] Also in the book, Mina watches the sunset over the headland of Kettleness from the town of Whitby. [43] In the 1950s, a vicar supposedly met the barghest that haunted the area around Kettleness, and used holy water to banish the spirit. [41]

The trail was launched in 2015 and covers several waypoints along the way into Whitby, [44] following the route of the Cleveland Way. [45]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North York Moors</span> National park in North Yorkshire, England

The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Covering an area of 554 sq mi (1,430 km2), the National Park has a population of 23,380. It is administered by the North York Moors National Park Authority, whose head office is based in Helmsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lythe</span> Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Lythe is a small village and large civil parish, in North Yorkshire, England, situated near Whitby within the North York Moors National Park. The name of the village derives from Old Norse and means hill or slope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood's Bay</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Robin Hood's Bay is a village in North Yorkshire, England. It is 6 miles (10 km) south of Whitby and 15 miles (24 km) north of Scarborough on the Yorkshire Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grosmont, North Yorkshire</span> Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Grosmont is a village and civil parish situated in Eskdale in the North York Moors National Park, within the boundaries of the Scarborough district of the county of North Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brotton</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Brotton is a village in the civil parish of Skelton and Brotton and situated approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) south-east of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, 9 miles from Redcar, 12 miles (19 km) east of Middlesbrough and 14 miles (23 km) north-west of Whitby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulby</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Boulby is a hamlet in the Loftus parish, located within the North York Moors National Park. It is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is located off the A174, near Easington and 1-mile (1.6 km) west of Staithes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easington, North Yorkshire</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Easington is a village in the Loftus civil parish and is part of the North York Moors National Park. It is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated on the A174 road, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Loftus, 8 miles (13 km) east of Guisborough, and 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Whitby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilton Thorpe</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Kilton Thorpe is a village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Noted for evidence of early settlement. The outlines of an ancient village are visible in fields adjacent to the present village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway</span> Former railway line in Yorkshire, England

The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (WRMU), a.k.a. the Whitby–Loftus Line, was a railway line in North Yorkshire, England, built between 1871 and 1886, running from Loftus on the Yorkshire coast to the Esk at Whitby, and connecting Middlesbrough to Whitby along the coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briggswath</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Briggswath is a village in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. the settlement is on the north bank of the River Esk, upstream of Ruswarp, and opposite Sleights which is on the south bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Runswick Bay</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Runswick Bay is a bay in the Scarborough Borough of North Yorkshire, England. It is also the name of a village located on the western edge of the bay. It is 5 miles (8 km) north of Whitby, and close to the villages of Ellerby and Hinderwell. It is a popular tourist attraction due to its picturesque cliffside village, stunning coastal walks, fossil hunting and Runswick Sands, a white sand beach. It is on the Cleveland Way national trail. Runswick Bay was chosen as Beach of the Year 2020 by The Sunday Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandsend</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Sandsend is a small fishing village, near to Whitby in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Lythe. It is the birthplace of fishing magnate George Pyman. Originally two villages, Sandsend and East Row, the united Sandsend has a pub and restaurant. A large part of the western side of the village, in The Valley, is still owned by Mulgrave Estate. The Valley is one of the most expensive areas to buy property on the Yorkshire Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorkshire Coast</span> Coastline of Yorkshire, England

The Yorkshire Coast runs from the Tees estuary to the Humber estuary, on the east coast of England. The cliffs at Boulby are the highest on the east coast of England, rising to 660 feet (200 m) above the sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potto railway station</span> Disused railway station in North Yorkshire, England

Potto railway station was a railway station built just north of the village of Potto in North Yorkshire, England. The station was on the North Yorkshire and Cleveland's railway line between Picton and Stokesley. The line was extended progressively until it met the Whitby and Pickering Line at Grosmont. Potto station was closed in 1954 to passengers and four years later to goods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Oswald, Lythe</span> Anglican church in North Yorkshire, England

The Church of St Oswald, Lythe, is the parish church for the village of Lythe, 4 miles (6.4 km) west, north west of Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. The church is at the top of Lythe Bank and is just east of the village on the A174 road.

Trenholme Bar railway station was a railway station built to serve the hamlet of Trenholme Bar in North Yorkshire, England. The station was on the North Yorkshire and Cleveland's railway line between Picton and Stokesley, which opened in 1857. The line was extended progressively until it met the Whitby & Pickering Railway at Grosmont. Trenholme Bar station was closed in 1954 to passengers and four years later to goods. The station was located 9 miles (14 km) south of Stockton, and 10 miles (16 km) west of Battersby railway station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grinkle Mine</span> Former ironstone mine in North Yorkshire, England

Grinkle Mine, was an ironstone mine working the main Cleveland Seam near to Roxby in North Yorkshire, England. Initially, the ironstone was mined specifically for the furnaces at the Palmer Shipbuilders in Jarrow on the River Tyne, but later, the mine became independent of Palmers. To enable the output from the mine to be exported, a 3-mile (4.8 km) narrow-gauge tramway was constructed that ran across three viaducts and through two tunnels to the harbour of Port Mulgrave, where ships would take the ore directly to Tyneside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironstone mining in Cleveland and North Yorkshire</span> Ironstone mines and quarries in Cleveland and North Yorkshire, England

Ironstone mining in Cleveland and North Yorkshire occurred on a sizeable scale from the 1830s to the 1960s in present day eastern parts of North Yorkshire but has been recorded as far back as Roman times in mostly a small-scale and intended for local use. This Cleveland is not to be confused with a smaller area covered by the county of Cleveland from 1974-96.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hutton Village</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Hutton Village is a settlement in the Hutton Lowcross area of Guisborough in North Yorkshire, England. Whilst the area itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book, the village was built largely due to the development of the ironstone industry in the Cleveland Hills. The name Hutton Lowcross referred to the township in the area, whereas the settlement is now known as Hutton Village. The village is set in a narrow dale that carries Hutton Beck northwards towards Guisborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marishes</span> Civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Marishes is a civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The parish has an area of some 2,960 acres, and is located between Malton and Pickering in the low-lying Vale of Pickering. Whilst the main occupation of the residents in the parish is agricultural in nature, the area is known for its onshore gas field. In 2015, the population of the parish was estimated to be 140.

References

  1. ↑ Wilkinson, George (3 June 2006). "Runswick Bay". York Press. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  2. ↑ Brodie, George (1942). The reminiscences of a civil engineering contractor. Bristol: J. Wright & Sons. p. 14. OCLC   34486482.
  3. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Lythe Parish (E04007688)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Goldsborough | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "Genuki: Lythe, Yorkshire (North Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  6. ↑ "OL27" (Map). North York Moors - Eastern area. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN   9780319242667.
  7. ↑ "Teatime has little to do with Kettleness" . infoweb.newsbank.com. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Leyland, John (1892). The Yorkshire coast and the Cleveland hills and dales. London: Seeley & Co. p. 54. OCLC   59487394.
  9. ↑ Westcott, Matt (21 July 2014). "Arrest after man falls to death from cliff in North Yorkshire". The Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Ben (March 2009). "North East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment (NERCZA)" (PDF). archaeologicalresearchservices.com. CHAPTER 6 Whitby West Pier to Blackhall Rocks (Block 1 NMP). p. 93. Retrieved 6 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. ↑ "Yorkshire Moors: Kettleness". www.yorkshiremoors.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  12. ↑ Langdale, Thomas (1822). A topographical dictionary of Yorkshire : containing the names of all the towns, villages, hamlets, gentlemen's seats, &c. in the county of York. Northallerton: Langdale. p. 58. OCLC   228666047.
  13. ↑ "Genuki: LYTHE: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890., Yorkshire (North Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  14. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). Yorkshire, the North Riding (2 ed.). London: Yale University Press. p. 206. ISBN   0-300-09665-8.
  15. ↑ "Strategic Stone Study A Building Stone Atlas of North Yorkshire East and York" (PDF). bgs.ac.uk. Historic England. December 2017. p. 7. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  16. ↑ National Character Area Profile; 25. North York Moors and Cleveland Hills. Natural England. 2015. p. 9. ISBN   978-1-78367-162-5.
  17. ↑ "Sandsend village church faces closure without help". The Whitby Gazette. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  18. ↑ Addicott, Ruth (6 June 2016). "Sound and Vision" . infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  19. ↑ "Disused Stations: Kettleness Station". www.disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  20. ↑ Hoole, Ken (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 179. ISBN   0-7153-8527-5.
  21. ↑ Aufrere Williams, Michael (November 2013). "Tunnels and viaducts of the Whitby-Loftus line". www.forgottenrelics.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  22. ↑ Young, Alan (2015). Lost Railways of Yorkshire; the North and East Ridings. Kettering: Silver Link. p. 92. ISBN   978-1-85794-453-2.
  23. ↑ Chorlton, Martyn (2014). Forgotten aerodromes of World War I : British military aerodromes, seaplane stations, flying-boat and airship stations to 1920. Crecy. p. 167. ISBN   9780859791816.
  24. ↑ "Kettleness - Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK". www.abct.org.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  25. ↑ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1982). Action stations 4; military airfields of Yorkshire (2 ed.). Wellingborough: Stephens. p. 99. ISBN   0-85059-532-0.
  26. ↑ Philpott, Ian (2013). The birth of the Royal Air Force. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. p. 270. ISBN   978-1-78159-333-2.
  27. ↑ Benton, M J; Taylor, M A (1984). "Marine Reptiles From the Upper Lias (Lower Toarcian, Lower Jurassic) of the Yorkshire Coast". Joyrnal of the Yorkshire Geological Journal. Leeds: Yorkshire Geological Society. 44 (29): 400–403. ISSN   0143-6635.
  28. ↑ Historic England. "Kettleness Alum Works (1118399)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  29. ↑ Historic England. "Alum works at Kettleness (1018144)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  30. ↑ Pybus, David; Rushton, John (1991). "4: Alum and the Yorkshire coast". In Lewis, David B (ed.). The Yorkshire coast. Beverley: Normandy Pr. p. 55. ISBN   0950766534.
  31. ↑ Pybus, David; Rushton, John (1991). "4: Alum and the Yorkshire coast". In Lewis, David B (ed.). The Yorkshire coast. Beverley: Normandy Pr. p. 54. ISBN   0950766534.
  32. ↑ White, William (1840). History, gazetteer, and directory, of the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire. Sheffield: Leader. p. 683. OCLC   224247177.
  33. ↑ Ord, John (1846). The history and antiquities of Cleveland, comprising the wapentake of East and West Langbargh[sic] North Riding, County York. London: Simpkin & Marshall. p. 307. OCLC   253903724.
  34. ↑ Dillon, Paddy (2016). The Cleveland Way and the Yorkshire Wolds Way (2 ed.). Milnthorpe: Cicerone. p. 157. ISBN   978-1-85284-823-1.
  35. ↑ Appleby, John (11 August 2014). "Hanging by a thread: Whitby's jet and fossil hunters". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  36. ↑ Barley, Sophie (7 May 2015). "Climber fell to death after friend let rope go to save own life". Gazette Live. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  37. ↑ Tuffs 1996, p. 17.
  38. ↑ "Inspection of the Cleveland and Hobhill Mines". Daily Gazette (Middlesbrough). No. 742. Column C. 4 December 1872. p. 3.
  39. ↑ "Durham Mining Museum - Kettleness (Ironstone)". www.dmm.org.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  40. ↑ Tuffs 1996, p. 18.
  41. 1 2 Beadle, Brian (5 March 2010). "Country walk from Sandsend to Kettleness". Gazette & Herald. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  42. ↑ Rowe, Mark (25 August 2016). "Dracula, fossils and whales: not just any stroll in Yorkshire". The Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  43. ↑ Stoker, Bram (2011). "VI; Mina Murray's Journal". Dracula. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 61. ISBN   9780-19-956409-5.
  44. ↑ "Dracula dog walking tour app launched". BBC News. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  45. ↑ Staniforth, Alan (2019). Cleveland Way. London: Quarto. p. 98. ISBN   978-1-78131-503-3.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.