Cleveland Hills

The Cleveland Hills
IUCN category II (national park)

Moorland and open valley with Cleveland Hills in the distance

The Cleveland Hills viewed from Urra Moor
Cleveland Hills
Cleveland Hills

Location of the Cleveland Hills

Location North Yorkshire, England
Nearest city Middlesbrough, England
Coordinates 54°24′57.84″N 1°12′4.53″W / 54.4160667°N 1.2012583°W / 54.4160667; -1.2012583Coordinates: 54°24′57.84″N 1°12′4.53″W / 54.4160667°N 1.2012583°W / 54.4160667; -1.2012583
Governing body North York Moors National Park Authority
Website northyorkmoors.org.uk

The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the 110-mile (177 km) long Cleveland Way National Trail runs along the hills, which is a part of Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk. The hills, which rise abruptly from the flat Tees Valley to the north, include distinctive landmarks such as the cone-shaped peak of Roseberry Topping, near the village of Great Ayton – childhood home of Captain James Cook.[1]

History

Formation

Geological studies of the Cleveland Hills plateau date the rocks back to the Middle Jurassic age, making the range approximately 161–176 million years old,[2] although the North York Moors are formed on rocks from the Lower Jurassic age resulting in shale erosion along the north and west faces of the hills. Roseberry Topping is an outlier which was formed as a result of erosion, separating it from the Cleveland Hills formation, making it a unique natural hill.[3]

Early man

There are a number of tumuli and stone circles[4] scattered throughout the Cleveland Hills and North York Moors, dating back to the Bronze Age, as well as many cairns that are of varied ages, some of which are relatively modern. Hundreds of flint arrowheads have been discovered during excavations in the hills and dated to the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, indication of an active population in prehistoric times across the region.[5]

Stone circles in the Cleveland Hills

Mining and industry

In 1850 ironstone was discovered by John Marley of Bolckow and Vaughan in the Eston Hills, outliers of the Cleveland Hills, leading to mining on a large scale and the rapid growth of nearby Middlesbrough.[6][7] By the 1870s industry would be producing steel in vast amounts, and mining for coal, alum, jet, cement stone concretions, shale and potash from the hills, as well as employing sandstone and limestone quarries to gather raw materials. Many of the mines and quarries are still evident today.

Hill data

The following heights are some of the highest or most notable in the range.

Name Grid reference Height
Urra Moor (Round Hill) NZ594015 454 m 1,490 ft
Cringle Moor NZ537029 432 m 1,417 ft
Carlton Bank NZ519026 408 m 1,339 ft
Cold Moor NZ551035 402 m 1,319 ft
Hasty Bank NZ565036 398 m 1,306 ft
Tidy Brown Hill NZ603052 396 m 1,299 ft
Bilsdale West Moor SE553966 395 m 1,296 ft
Warren Moor NZ616075 335 m 1,099 ft
Gisborough Moor NZ643123 328 m 1,076 ft
Easby Moor NZ590101 324 m 1,063 ft
Park Nab NZ614084 324 m 1,063 ft
Roseberry Topping NZ579126 320 m 1,050 ft
Live Moor NZ505013 315 m 1,033 ft
Highcliff Nab NZ610138 310 m 1,017 ft
Codhill Heights NZ614127 296 m 971 ft
Eston Nab NZ561800 242 m 794 ft

Towns and villages in the Cleveland Hills

Map of the North York Moors area

There are numerous towns and villages on, or in the vicinity of, the Cleveland Hills including the following:

Interesting places to see

Bilsdale West Moor, situated in the Cleveland Hills, is home to the 314 metres (1,030 ft) tall Bilsdale transmitting station, providing 40–50 miles coverage of UHF transmissions for digital TV and radio in the north-east's Tyne Tees region.[9] The digital switchover at Bilsdale was completed in two stages, on 12 and 26 September 2012, one of the last transmitters in England to complete this operation, the others being Pontop Pike and Chatton in the same region.[10]

See also

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.