Cleveland is a land of hills and dales from the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has bee ...

to Vale of Pickering,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The name means “cliff-land”. Yorkshire-Subregions

The area corresponds to the former Langbaurgh Wapentake. The

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...

national park, established in 1952, covers part of it. A non-metropolitan county under the same name existed from 1974 to 1996 and there is ambiguity today between that county and the historic extent of the name.

Heritage

Cleveland has a centuries-long association with the area from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

to Pickering and

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological ...

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cl ...

, effectively the eastern half of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

's North Riding. Ralph, Archdeacon of Cleveland, was the area's first archdeacon recorded, before 1174. A Dukedom of Cleveland was first created in the 17th century.

Metal

The

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 ...

were key suppliers of the ironstone which was essential to running

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...

s alongside the River Tees. Cleveland’s rich ore has created a significant industrial heritage arising from its central role in the 19th century iron boom that led to Middlesbrough growing from a hamlet into a major industrial town in only a matter of decades. Teesport is one of the United Kingdom's main ports, initially due to the iron boom, with other heavy industrial plants between Middlesbrough and Redcar.

Name's usage

Legislation creating the Cleveland Parliamentary constituency (

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 &n ...

–1974) was the first use of Cleveland referring narrowly to land around the River Tees. The constituency was created by the division of the North Riding constituency, and was succeeded in name by the Cleveland and Whitby for the February 1974 general election. The

county of Cleveland Cleveland was a ceremonial county located in northern England. It was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and named after the historic area of Cleveland, Yorkshire. The county was abolished in 1996. The area was partitioned b ...

followed on simular boundaries, also including areas north of the River Tees. The official name, from 1974, of the ”CLEVELAND” ( TS postcode was formed from “TeeS“ or “Tees-Side”)

postal county The postal counties of the United Kingdom, now known as former postal counties, were postal subdivisions in routine use by the Royal Mail until 1996. The purpose of the postal county – as opposed to any other kind of county – was to aid the ...

refers to a larger area including the non-metropolitan county and to the

moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide Edition 4'', (2004) Cleveland is a common place name in the USA and Canada, but relatively few of these places are named directly after this region in England. Many of the towns, as well as two counties and a national forest, are named after US President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

. Other towns are named after the City of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, Ohio, which in turn was named in honor of Moses Cleaveland, a founder of the city.

Geographical features

The area is geographically varied: *

Howardian Hills The Howardian Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors National Park, and the Vale of York. They take their name from the Howard family who still own local lands. Topography ...

Roseberry Topping Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near Great Ayton and Newton under Roseberry. Its summit has a distinctive half-cone shape with a jagged cliff, which has led to many comparisons with the much h ...

: a distinctive hill. Its original roughly conical form was undercut by extensive mining, giving it a jagged appearance that many have thought reminiscent of the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

mountain. *

** River Leven *

Eston Nab Eston Nab is a local landmark to those who live along the River Tees, in north-east England. A nab is a rocky promontory, or outcrop, and Eston Nab, marking the highest point – at – on the escarpment which forms Eston Hills, appears as a ...

Districts

* Hambleton (part) *

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England. Its main settlements are Redcar, South Bank, Eston, Brotton, Guisborough, the Greater Eston part of Middlesbrough, Loftus, Saltburn and Skelton. Th ...

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimat ...

(south Tees) * Scarborough

Titles

Lord Lieutenant of Cleveland This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cleveland from the county's creation in 1974 until the abolition of the Lord Lieutenancy in 1997: *1974–1979: Major Cecil Crosthwaite *1979–1981: Colonel John Pounder *1 ...

* High Sheriff of Cleveland * Duke of Cleveland * Earl of Cleveland

References

External links

Images of Cleveland
at the English Heritage Archive {{Yorkshire Ancient subdivisions of Yorkshire