Cleveland Hills

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, and they are also crossed by a section 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]

The Cleveland Hills
The Cleveland Hills viewed from Urra Moor
Cleveland Hills
Location of the Cleveland Hills
LocationNorth Yorkshire, England
Nearest cityMiddlesbrough, England
Coordinates54°24′57.84″N 1°12′4.53″W
Governing bodyNorth York Moors National Park Authority
Websitenorthyorkmoors.org.uk

Geology

The hills are formed by multiple stacked layers of Jurassic age sedimentary rocks. The scarp rises above the low ground to the north and west formed by the mudstones of the Redcar Mudstone Formation, though largely buried beneath glacial till from the last ice age. The same formation also provides the lowermost slopes of the scarp. The full sequence, presented in stratigraphic order, i.e. youngest/uppermost at top is:[2]

  • Ravenscar Group (Middle Jurassic)
    • Scalby Formation (including the Long Nab and Moor Grit 'members')
    • Scarborough Formation
    • Cloughton Formation
    • Eller Beck Formation
    • Saltwick Formation
    • Dogger Formation
  • Lias Group (early/lower Jurassic)
    • Whitby Mudstone Formation (including the Mulgrave Shale Member)
    • Cleveland Ironstone Formation
    • Staithes Sandstone Formation
    • Redcar Mudstone Formation

Most of these formations are various combinations of sandstone, mudstone and siltstone though a couple also contain limestones and the Cleveland Ironstone and Eller Beck formations include ironstone, the former having been exploited for the ironworking industry in former times. The plateau surface is largely formed by the sandstones of the Saltwick and Cloughton formations whilst the summit of Roseberry Topping is an outlier of the Saltwick Formation separated from the main Cleveland Hills range by erosion.[3]

The Cleveland Dyke cuts through the hills forming the Langbaurgh Ridge and Cliff Ridge just south of Roseberry Topping where Cliff Rigg Quarry has exploited this Palaeogene age basaltic andesite intrusion for use as roadstone.

Glaciofluvial deposits are scattered around the margins of the hills, notably in Kildale whilst peat has accumulated on the plateau surface in some areas. Landslips are common in the Lias Group rocks along the scarp face in the west and in Raisdale to the south.

History

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
Main article: Cleveland Ironstone Formation

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]

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See also

References
  1. "Captain James Cook – History". Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  2. "Geoindex Onshore". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  3. "Geology – Cleveland Hills – North York Moors National Park". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  4. "The Prehistoric Sites of Great Britain". Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  5. "Kirkletham Museum – First People Overview" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  6. "Tees Archaeology". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  7. "Middlesbrough and surrounds". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  8. "The Wainstones". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  9. "TheBigTower Bilsdale Transmitter". Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  10. "Digital UK – Tyne Tees region". Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
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