Hartlepool is made up from the word Hart which is the Old English name for a stag or deer (which appears on the towns crest) and Le Pool meaning by the sea. People used to move here to hunt where there where deer by the sea and eventually settled. Hartlepool was founded as a village in the 7th century AD, springing up around Hartlepool Abbey which was founded in 640.

The Monastery became famous under St Hilda, a nun who was placed there by St Aidan, who was the monastery abbess from 649 – 657. The site of the old monastery is marked today by the beautiful abbey church bearing the name – St Hilda.

1835 – A railway was built to enable South Durham coal to be exported. A rival railway was built in 1847 and docks were established at its terminus, around which a new town, West Hartlepool, was founded by Ralph Ward Jackson.

1838 – Hartlepool became heavily industrialised with an ironworks and shipyards in the docks.

1891 – The population was 64,000 having grown from only a few thousand at the start of the 19th century

1899 – The Grand Hotel was built

1904 – St Oswald’s Parish Church was built

1913 – No fewer than 43 ship – owning companies were located in the town with responsibility for 236 ships. This made it a key target for Germany in the First World War. The first German offensive against Britain in the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby was mounted at Hartlepool between 8.10 am and 9.30 am on the morning of 16th December 1914. 137 people were killed and 592 wounded. This was the worst event in History to happen to the population of Hartlepool.

1930’s – Hartlepool suffered badly in the Great Depression with high levels of unemployment right up until the start of the Second World War during which time its shipbuilding and steel – making industries enjoyed a renaissance.

1961 – “Blanchland” the last ship to be constructed in Hartlepool left the slips and in 1962 Sir William Gray’s, the last shipyard closed.
1967 – The two towns, West Hartlepool and Old Hartlepool formally joined together on 1st April to create the Hartlepool that is known today.

1968 – Middleton Grange Shopping Centre was opened by Princess Anne with over 140 new shops including Marks and Spencer’s and Woolworths.

1971 – Unemployment rose to a staggering 25%, steel production ceased and coal shipments stopped. The docks became mainly deserted and only the construction of two oil platforms temporarily relieved the decline.

1980’s – Car imports began to revive the docks but it was another unlikely guest that got people’s attentions – the battered hull of “HMS Warrior”

1990’s – A series of major investment projects aided in reviving the town. These included a new Marina, rehabilitation of derelict land, the indoor conversion to modernise Middleton Grange Shopping Centre from the 1960s brutalist architecture, the Historic Quay regeneration and the construction of much new housing.

With the best of intention all of the above information is true, correct and given in good faith, however, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions contained within the above.

Equally we recommend that should you need or want to find out more you should conduct more detailed independant research.