Cleveland Hills

The Cleveland Hills
Protected area
The Cleveland Hills from Urra Moor
Country	England
Ceremonial County	North Yorkshire
Coordinates	54°40′N 1°20′W
Highest point	Urra Moor
- elevation	454 m (1,490 ft)
IUCN category	V - Protected Landscape/Seascape
Location of the Cleveland Hills in the UK
Website: http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/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, 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 Cook.

Bilsdale West Moor, situated in the Cleveland Hills, is home to the Bilsdale transmitting station providing 40–50 miles coverage of UHF transmissions for digital TV and radio in the north-east.

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, 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.

Early man

There are a number of tumuli and stone circles scattered over 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.

Stone circles in the Cleveland Hills

• Commondale
• Tripsdale Bride Stones
• Thimbleby Nine Stones

Mining and industry

In 1850 ironstone was discovered in the Eston Hills, outliers of the Cleveland Hills, leading to mining on a large scale and the rapid growth of nearby Middlesbrough. 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.

The hills

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

Towns and villages in the Cleveland Hills

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

• Carlton-in-Cleveland
• Easby
• Eston
• Filey
• Great Ayton
• Great Broughton
• Guisborough
• Helmsley
• Kildale
• Newton under Roseberry
• Osmotherley
• Slapewath
• Staithes
• Stokesley
• Swainby

Interesting places to see

Map of the North York Moors area

• Captain Cook Monument, Easby Moor
• Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum, Great Ayton
• Roseberry Topping
• Wainstones, Hasty Bank

External links

• North York Moors National Park
• North Yorkshire Moors and Cleveland Hills