Category Archives: Kirkleatham

Kirkleatham

Kirkleatham and Redcar Traction Engine

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BY ROYAL LETTERS PATENT
No. 2350
AVELING & PORTER
ENGINEERS
ROCHESTER
KENT
ENGLAND 1888

This plate belonged to 10 ton single cylinder road roller built in 1888 which was dispatched new to Kirkleatham Urban District Council and later owned by Redcar Urban District Council.

This company advert from the same year of 1888 may give an idea of what it looked like.

File:Im18880629E-Aveling.jpg
1888 advert.

The only local photo I know which features a traction engine is this one from road laying at Lazenby, so there’s a very slim chance it could be the same engine.

At some point later in its life it was sent to Bomford & Evershed who were an agricultural machinery manufacturer and contractor based in Warwickshire, they formed in 1904 so it must be after than date, it was scrapped in the late 1930s

Many thanks to Stewart Ramsdale for highlighting this item when it recently surfaced at an auction house in Evesham, Worcestershire

Bolckow and Vaughan – World War 1 Roll of Honour

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Bolckow and Vaughan created this plaque to commemorate their 670 employees who died in the Great War. It was made by C.F. Mundell and Company, Tees Joinery Works, Marsh Road, Middlesbrough.Each plaque is split up into the works or mine they originated from, zooming in on Flickr will allow you to read every name.
Bolckow and Vaughan - WW1 Roll of Honour
Middlesbrough Office, Middlesbrough Works, South Bank Works
Bolckow and Vaughan - WW1 Roll of Honour
West Auckland Colliery, Shildon Lodge Colliery, Byers Green Colliery, Newfield Colliery, Black Boy Colliery, Auckland Park Colliery
Bolckow and Vaughan - WW1 Roll of Honour
Leasingthorne Colliery, Westerton Colliery, Dean & Chapter Colliery
Bolckow and Vaughan - WW1 Roll of Honour
Newlandside Quarry, Eston Mines, North Skelton Mines, South Skelton Mines, Belmont Mines
Bolckow and Vaughan - WW1 Roll of Honour
The plaque is currently on display at Kirkleatham Museum

Kirkleatham Owl Centre need supplies

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With the bad weather and low temperatures we’re experiencing, the Kirkleatham Owl Centre have made an appeal for supplies. In particular old blankets, towels, straw and wood shaving to help them keep the animals warm and dry.

Here’s a rescued hedgehog in my old picnic rug._facebook_-803624276

In winter they are open to the public 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday.

Tom Browns Tree, Kirkleatham

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The oak tree replaces an older elm which was planted in 1755 in the memory of Tom Brown, apparently marking the site of his fathers cottage.
Tom Browns Tree, Kirkleatham
Tom Brown was born in Kirkleatham in 1705, he is known for his role in the Battle of Dettingen which took place on 27 June 1743 in Bavaria during the War of the Austrian Succession.
Tom Browns Tree, Kirkleatham
His regiments standard was captured and while recovering it he received terrible injuries to his face including his nose being cut off. He is said to have been given a silver nose by King George II.
He retired to Yarm with a pension of 30 shillings from the King, as two shots from the battle could not be safely removed from his back, he died there in 1746.

Some account state he was knighted on the battle field by the king although this could be doubtful, as could the date of his birth, there some investigation on this here

Update 2013 : Located a photo of the damaged original

1184698661

Justice Statue, Kirkleatham Almshouse

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When this post was first created back in 2012 it contains many inaccuracies gathered from a diverse range of sources. So i have now replaced it with the words of Peter Sotheran MBE JP, Chairman of Trustees of Sir Wm Turner’s Almshouses 1996 – 2014

The statue of Justicia (Justice) is NOT by James Gibb. My own researches of catalogues and sales/purchase invoices suggest that it may have been created by Henry Scheere of London.

It is believed to have come from Canons in Edgware (London) but there is no documentary evidence to support that. I have studied the architects drawings for Canons but Justicia is not shown amongst the many statutes that once lined the roof-top parapet of the building. I have examined the auction sale catalogues for the dispersal of Canons artefacts in 1745 and this statue is not listed.

There is no documentary evidence in the almshouses’ archives (at NRYCC Record Office in Northallerton) of its acquisition or installation. So it remains something of a mystery although the smart money backs the chance that it did come from Canons.

Justice, Kirkleatham Almshouse

Over the centuries the statue had had 14 different coats of paint. Paint analysis made it possible to determine the original finish and the present stone colour is how it originally appeared.

She leans forward because this statue originally stood on a roof parapet, high above the ground. Tilting her torso forward corrects the effect of perspective which, otherwise, would make her head and shoulders appear to be too small when viewed from ground level.

Justice, Kirkleatham Almshouse

The restoration of the statue involved removing almost quarter of a ton of cement, plaster and rubble that had been poured inside to stiffen the statue (no wonder the plinth tilted over!). The original wrought iron armature (internal frame) that supported the shell was replaced with a new stainless steel armature. The internal void was filled with a plastic resin to give solidity; should ever it need to be removed, it can be dissolved with a specific chemical solution and removed without harming the shell.

Justice, Kirkleatham Almshouse
The repairs were funded by the Paul Getty and the Wolfson Foundations, Tees Valley Community Foundation and the Pizza Express Foundation.
Heres a ‘Before’ shot from the photostream of Bolckow for comparison.
Justice, Kirkleatham Almshouse

Vansittart Terrace, Redcar

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This sign for Vansittart Terrace sits on what is now Coatham Road
Vansittart Terrace, Redcar
Coatham Road came into existance around 1935 when Portland, Victoria, Cleveland, Bentinck, Vansittart and Theresa Terraces were combined.

Henry Vansittart (10 July 1784 – 22 April 1848) married Teresa Newcomen the widow of Sir Charles Turner and gained Turner’s Kirkleatham estate.

Oxgang Bridge, Redcar

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Oxgang Bridge was on what is now Plantation Road and is marked on every Ordnance Survey map since the first edition, it is where Roger Dyke / West Dyke passes under the road between Marske and Kirkleatham.

I took these photos on an evening in 2007 in poor light and always intended to get better photo and find out something more about the bridge, at this point just the sides of the bridge were visible.Lost Bridge, Redcar
Lost Bridge, Redcar
Since that time the side have also been removed leaving no trace of the bridge, although presumably the rest of the structure is still buried under the road.

Also of interest is the Fever Hospital and mortuary just upstream which is now the site of the Grewgrass Lodges

Charles Acklam Tyreman Grave, Kirkleatham

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Charles Acklam Tyreman was killed in the Eston Ironstone mines on September 2nd 1907 aged 23
Charles Acklam
He was kirving (a coal mining term for undercutting) in the bottom part of the seam when a piece of stone suddenly burst away from a natural break in the upper part of the seam, and, falling upon him, caused fatal injuries.