The history of the Hartlepool Headland

There has been a habitation of some type for about 2,500 years on the Headland. Early iron age gives way to the Romans, who are believed to have established a signal station on the cliffs which later eroded into the sea, and later the Saxons.

Hartlepool, or Heruteu as it was known, became a place of Saints and Kings.

St. Aidan had St. Bega forms a religious house here in 640 AD. Some years later, St Hilda was Abbess before moving to Whitby.

With the Normans came the de Brus family, who were Lords of the Manor for over two hundred years. St. Hilda’s church was built by the family in 1189. The town was sacked and burned by the Scots on many occasions, which resulted in the Town Walls being built, beginning in 1315.

The town was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1201 and again by later Monarchs making the town as Ancient Royal Borough. In 1593, “Good Queen Bess”, Elizabeth 1 granted the town a further Royal Charter, this being renewed in 1841.

The town formed part of the domain of the powerful Prince Bishops and was their principal port. Ships were prepared on the Fish Sands to take part in the Crusades. After his defeat in 1314 at Bannockburn, King Edward 11 rested at the Friarage on his way South.

The town was occupied by Scottish troops for the Parliamentary forces during the Civil War. Its batteries fought a gun battle and drove off a frigate off the Town Moor.

With the arrival of the railway in 1835, the port was greatly expanded becoming for many years one of the major coal exporting and timber importing towns on the East Coast. Other industries such as shipbuilding brought in people from all over northern England while the expansion also spread into its traditional industry of fishing!

Hartlepool was a target for the German Fleet in 1914 with many casualties and again in air-raids. In 1916 when bombing Hartlepool, a Zeppelin airship ‘L34’ was brought down off the coast. The town was again subject to bombing during the Second World War. After the war, many ancient houses were demolished and during the 1960’s, the industry began declining, allowing for the first time its people the chance to think about their past.