Hartlepool (ˈhɑːtlɪpuːl) is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area. With an estimated population of 87,995, it is the second-largest settlement (after Darlington) in County Durham.
The old town was founded in the 7th century, around the monastery of Hartlepool Abbey on a headland. As the village grew into a town in the Middle Ages, its harbour served as the County Palatine of Durham's official port. The new town of West Hartlepool was created in 1835 after a new port was built and railway links from the South Durham coal fields (to the north) and from Stockton-on-Tees (to the south) were created. The two towns merged and became known as the Hartlepools before dropping the "s".
Industrialisation in northern England and the start of a shipbuilding industry in the later part of the 19th century meant it was a target for the Imperial German Navy at the beginning of the First World War. A bombardment of 1,150 shells on 16 December 1914 resulted in the death of 117 people in the town. A severe decline in heavy industries and shipbuilding following the Second World War caused periods of high unemployment until the 1990s when major investment projects and the redevelopment of the docks area into a marina saw a rise in the town's prospects. The town also has a seaside resort called Seaton Carew.
The place name derives from Old English heort ("hart"), referring to stags seen, and pōl (pool), a pool of drinking water which they were known to use. Records of the place-name from early sources confirm this:
649: Heretu, or Hereteu.
1017: Herterpol, or Hertelpolle.
1182: Hierdepol.
Headland, Hartlepool
A Northumbrian settlement developed in the 7th century around an abbey founded in 640 by Saint Aidan (an Irish and Christian-priest) upon a headland overlooking a natural harbour and the North Sea. The monastery became powerful under St Hilda, who served as its abbess from 649 to 657.
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Sunderland (ˈsʌndərlənd) is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the historic county of Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on the River Wear's mouth to the North Sea. The river also flows through Durham roughly south-west of Sunderland City Centre. It is the only other city in the county and the second largest settlement in the North East after Newcastle upon Tyne. Locals from the city are sometimes known as Mackems.
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority borough of County Durham, England. With a population of 84,815 in the 2021 UK census. It is part of the Teesside and the devolved Tees Valley area, on the northern banks of the River Tees. The Tees was straightened in the early 1800s for larger ships to access the town. The ports have since relocated closer to the North Sea and ships are no longer able to sail from the sea to the town due to the Tees Barrage, which was installed to manage tidal flooding.
Middlesbrough (ˈmɪdəlzbrə ) is a town in the Middlesbrough unitary authority borough of North Yorkshire, England. The town is in Teesdale, near the North York Moors National Park. With a population of 148,215, it was classed as large town to smaller city at the 2021 UK census. It is the largest town of the wider Teesside area, which had a population of 376,633 in 2011. Until the early 1800s, the area was rural farming land in the historic county of Yorkshire.