Egton Cross

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The cross in Egton was erected in 1912 in memory of John Foster.

Egton Cross

The Foster family were owners of Black Dyke Mills in Queensbury, Bradford, West Yorkshire which manufactured worsted and mohair fabric. They purchased the Egton Estate in 1869 as a sporting estate.

Egton Cross

Mr. John Foster died on Feb. 8th 1910 aged 78, his funeral took place at Egton on February 12th 1910.

Greatham Railway Station

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I’ve been taking a short break from Hidden Teesside, but I return with a kind contribution from Michael Thompson.

Greatham Railway Station was opened on 10 February 1841 as a branch of the Clarence Railway, from Billingham to Hartlepool. The station finally closed on 24 November 1991. Apart from serving the residents of Greatham the station also served as a freight station for the nearby salt works.

(Info – Wikipedia: Greatham Railway Station)

Greatham Station looking east towards Hartlepool (Michael Thompson)

Although the station has now been deleted from the Ordnance Survey maps the road from Greatham to the station is still called Station Road.

Brusselton Incline

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The Brusselton Incline opened in 1825 and consisted of a stationary engine to haul coal wagons 1.5 miles over a hill which was too steep for the early steam engines of the day.

Brusselton Incline
Stone sleepers on the incline

By 1842 the Shildon Tunnel went under the hill making the incline obsolete, it ceased operation in the 1880s.

Brusselton Incline Engine House
Engine House

The Enginemans House carries a “H1” Stockton and Darlington Railway ownership plaque

Brusselton Incline Enginemans House
Enginemans House

The Brusselton Incline Group was formed in 2014 to carry our restoration and maintenance of the site.

 Flax Beating Stone – Hartburn Village

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Flax was used in the manufacture of ships sails which would have then been used in the shipyards of Stockton, in 1827 Stockton had four flax merchants and three linen factories.

photo by Connor Stokes

The plaque read :-

June 1897
This stone was erected to commemorate the completion of the 60th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. It was found near the village of Hartburn and used to beat flax on in former days.

photo by Connor Stokes

A smaller much later plaque dates from 2nd April 1983, it shows the link between William of Hertburne, who became William of Wessyngton in 1183.

His descendant George Washington became the first president of the USA.

photo by Connor Stokes

Upsall Blacksmith’s Forge 1859

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The horseshoe shaped archway carries the words Upsall Town and is dated 1859.

Upsall Blacksmith

It is very similar in design to Turton Cottages in Roxby which are dated a year earlier in 1858, another estate owned by the Turton family.

Upsall Blacksmith

Upsall Blacksmith

John Turton was a physician to ‘mad’ George III, who died without children, the estate passed to the youngest son of Rev William Peters (chaplain to the Prince Regent) who assumed the Turton name and coat of arms.

Upsall Blacksmith

de Brus Wall, Hart

This fragment of wall near St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Hart is the only above-ground remains of a medieval great house owned from the 12th to the 16th centuries by the de Brus and Clifford Lords.

de Brus Wall Hart

The history is well described in the Scheduled Ancient Monument listing :-

The manor of Hart and Harterness was granted by the king to Robert de Brus
after the Norman Conquest. Documents indicate that the extent of this manor
was larger in pre-Conquest times. Throughout its history, the right of
disposal of the manor was a source of dispute between the Crown and the Bishop
of Durham. The manor subsequently descended through the Brus family most
notably to Robert de Brus VII; after the latter’s assumption to the Scottish
throne in 1306, Edward I granted the manor to Robert de Clifford in whose
family it remained until 1580, with only brief interruption by claims from a
number of bishops. In 1580 the manor was sold to Robert Petrie and John Morley
and then to the Lumley family who, with the exception of a brief period of
administration by Parliament from 1644-1660, retained it until 1770. In 1770
the estate was sold to the Milbank family.

St Mary Magdalene Church, Hart

St Mary Magdalene Church, Hart was founded in 675 AD

St Mary Magdalene Church, Hart

The current tower dates to the 13th century and the nave the 12th century. A carving on the wall is generally said to depict St. George and the Dragon.

St Mary Magdalene Church, Hart

However it could relate to the Clifford Family who owned the Manor House estate. Rather than a dragon it may show a wyvern which features on the Clifford family crest.

Clifford Wyverns at Skipton Castle

Friarage Manor House, Hartlepool

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A Franciscan Friary was founded on this site around 1239 by the De Brus family.

Friarage Manor House, Hartlepool

Destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a mansion was built in the early 17th century.

Sketch showing the site in ruins in 1780
Friarage Manor House, Hartlepool

In the early 1800s it became the town workhouse, followed by the building being converted into a hospital in the 1860’s.

St Hilda’s Hospital developed on the site and this last original piece was left when the rest was demolished in 1987

Friarage Manor House, Hartlepool