Middlesbrough started as aBenedictine priory on the south bank of theRiver Tees, its name possibly derived from it being midway between the holy sites ofDurham andWhitby. The earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name is "Mydilsburgh". Some believe the name means 'middle fortress', since it was midway between the two religious houses of Durham and Whitby; others state that it is anOld English personal name (Midele orMyhailf) combined withburgh, meaning town.[2][3][4][5]
After settlement by theAngles, the area became home toViking settlers. Names of Viking origin (with the suffixby, meaningvillage[9]) are abundant, for exampleOrmesby,Stainsby andTollesby. These were once separate villages named afterVikings called Orm, Steinn and Toll. They are now areas of Middlesbrough that were recorded inDomesday Book, of 1086.
In 1801 Middlesbrough was a small farmingtownship with a population of just 25. From 1829 onwards it experienced rapid growth. In 1828 the influentialQuaker banker, coal-mine owner andStockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) shareholderJoseph Pease sailed up the River Tees to find a suitable new site downriver of Stockton on which to place new coalstaithes. As a result, in 1829 he and a group ofQuaker businessmen bought the Middlesbrough farmstead and associated estate, some 527 acres (213 ha) of land, and established the Middlesbrough Estate Company.
Through the company, the investors set about a new coal port development (designed byJohn Harris) on the southern banks of the Tees.[10][11] The first coal shipping staithes at the port (known as "Port Darlington") were constructed with a settlement to the east established on the site of Middlesbrough farm as labour for the port, taking on the farm's name as it developed into a village.[12][13]
The port was linked to the S&DR on 27 December 1830 via a branch that extended to an area just north of the currentMiddlesbrough railway station.[14]
The success of the port meant it soon became overwhelmed by the volume of imports and exports, and in 1839 work started on a dock to the east of Middlesbrough.[12] The first water for the dock was let in on 19 March 1842, while the formal opening took place on 12 May 1842.
"Where alchemists were born below Cleveland's Hills. A giant blue dragonfly across the Tees reminds us every night. We built the world, every metropolis came from the Ironopolis." A Poem by Ian Horn.
Iron dominated the Tees area since 1841 whenHenry Bolckow in partnership withJohn Vaughan, founded the Vulcaniron foundry androlling mill. Vaughan introduced the new 'Bell Hopper' system of closed blast furnaces developed at theEbbw Vale works. The new system and nearby abundant supply ofIronstone in theEston Hills in 1850, made the works a success with the area becoming known as the "Iron-smelting centre of the world" andBolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd the largest company in existence at the time.[15]
By 1851 Middlesbrough's population had grown from 40 people in 1829 to 7,600.[11]Pig iron production rose tenfold between 1851 and 1856 and by the mid-1870s Middlesbrough was producing one third of the entire nation's Pig Iron output. During this time Middlesbrough earned the nickname 'Ironopolis'.[16][17]
On 21 January 1853 Middlesbrough received itsRoyal Charter of Incorporation,[18] giving the town the right to have a mayor, aldermen and councillors. Henry Bolckow became mayor, in 1853.[6]
In the latter half of the 19th century Old Middlesbrough was starting to decline and was overshadowed by developments built around thenew town hall, south of theoriginal town hall.[19][20]
Gibson House (Boho Four)
On 15 August 1867, a Reform Bill was passed, making Middlesbrough a new parliamentary borough, Bolckow was elected member for Middlesbrough the following year.
The town's rapid expansion continued throughout the second half of the 19th century (fuelled by the iron and steel industry), the population reaching 90,000 by the dawn of the 20th century.[11]
Middlesbrough was the first major British town and industrial target to be bombed during theSecond World War. The steel-making capacity and railways for carrying steel products were obvious targets. TheLuftwaffe first bombed the town on 25 May 1940, when a lone bomber dropped 13 bombs between South Bank Road and the South Steel plant.[21] More bombing occurred throughout the course of the war, with therailway station put out of action for two weeks in 1942.[22]
By the end of the war more than 200 buildings had been damaged or destroyed in the Middlesbrough area. Areas of early- and mid-Victorian housing were demolished and much of central Middlesbrough was redeveloped. Heavy industry was relocated to areas of land better suited to the needs of modern technology. Middlesbrough itself began to take on a completely different look.[23]
A66 from a multi-storey car park in 2006 (the road is raised, with Wilson Street running alongside)
Post-war industrial to modern non-industrial Middlesbrough has changed the town, many buildings having been replaced and roads built. TheA66 road was built through the town in the 1980s, the Royal Exchange being demolished to make way for it.
The original St Hilda's area of Middlesbrough, after decades of decline and clearance, was given a new name ofMiddlehaven in 1986 on investment proposals to build on the land.[24]Middlehaven has since had new buildings built there includingMiddlesbrough College and Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium amongst others. Also situated at Middlehaven is the "Boho" zone, offering office space to the area's business and to attract new companies, and also "Bohouse", housing.[25][26] Some of the street names from the original grid-iron street plan of the town still exist in the area today.
The expansion of Middlesbrough southwards, eastwards and westwards continued throughout the 20th century absorbing villages such asLinthorpe,Acklam,Ormesby,Marton andNunthorpe[11] and continues to the present day.
Since 2002, political leadership on the council has been provided by the directly electedMayor of Middlesbrough. Prior to 2002 the council was led by aleader of the council, and the mayor had a more ceremonial role. The leaders from 1981 to 2002 were:
After construction of the modern town began in 1830, there was a need for more urban forms of local government. In 1841 a body ofimprovement commissioners was set up covering the township of Middlesbrough and part of the township of Linthorpe.[36] The commissioners were superseded in 1853 when the same area was made amunicipal borough. The borough boundaries were extended in 1858, 1866 and 1887.[37][38] When elected county councils were created in 1889 under theLocal Government Act 1888, Middlesbrough became acounty borough. It was then independent from the newNorth Riding County Council, whilst remaining part of theNorth Riding of Yorkshire for ceremonial purposes.[39]
By this time, the borough covered the civil parish of Middlesbrough and parts of the parishes of Linthorpe (where the old township had been made a separate parish in 1866),Marton, and West Acklam. TheLocal Government Act 1894 said that parishes could no longer straddle borough boundaries, and so the parish of Middlesbrough was enlarged to cover the whole borough.[40][41]
Acklam Hall, built 1680s: Manor house in the parish of West Acklam which historically included Middlesbrough. West Acklam was absorbed into Middlesbrough in 1932.
The borough was further enlarged in 1913, taking in the rest of Linthorpe and theNorth Ormesby area from the parish of Ormesby.[42] In 1932 it gained West Acklam and smaller parts from other parishes when theMiddlesbrough Rural District was abolished.[40]
Middlesbrough has anoceanic climate typical for the United Kingdom.Being sheltered from prevailing south-westerly winds by theLake District andPennines to the west, and theCleveland Hills to the south, Middlesbrough is in one of the relatively dry parts of the country, receiving on average 574 millimetres (22.6 inches) of rain a year. Temperatures range from mild summer highs in July and August typically around 21 °C (70 °F), to winter lows in December and January falling to around 0 °C (32 °F).
Seasonal variations are small and both the mild summers and cool winters are far removed from the average climates of the latitude (54.5°N). This is mainly due to theBritish Isles being a relatively small land mass surrounded by water, the mild south-westerlyGulf Stream air that dominates the British Isles, and the propensity for cloud cover to limit temperature extremes. In nearbyScandinavia, more than ten degrees further north, there are coastalBothnian climates with warmer summers than Middlesbrough; and winters in Middlesbrough can be less cold than those at lower latitudes in mainland Europe.
Climate data for Middlesbrough, England (1991–2010,Stockton-on-Tees Climate Station)
Industry in the town was once dominated by steelmaking, shipbuilding and chemical industries. Since the late 20th century and into the 21st century,[47][48] the demise of much of the heavy industry in the area, newer technologies (such as the digital sector) have emerged.[49]
Middlesbrough remains a stronghold for engineering based manufacturing and engineering contract service businesses. To help support this, the TeesAMP advanced manufacturing park is designed to accommodate businesses associated with advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies.[50][51]
Teesport, owned byPD Ports, is a major contributor to the economy of Middlesbrough and the port owners have their offices in the town. The port is 1 mile (2 km) from theNorth Sea and 4 miles (6 km) east of Middlesbrough, on theRiver Tees. In 2019, it handled over 4,350 vessels each year and around 27 million tonnes of cargo with the estate covering approximately 779 acres.[52] Steel, petrochemical, agribulks, manufacturing, engineering and high street commerce operations are all supported through Teesport, in addition to the renewable energy sector, in both production and assembly facilities.
In 1875, Bolckow, Vaughan & Co opened the Cleveland Steelworks in Middlesbrough, beginning the transition from iron production to steel and, by the turn of the century, the area had become one of the major steel centres in the country and possibly the world. In 1900,Bolckow, Vaughan & Co had become the largest producer of steel in Great Britain. In 1914,Dorman Long, another major steel producer from Middlesbrough, became the largest company in Britain, employing a workforce of over 20,000, and by 1929 it was the dominant steel producer on Teesside after taking over Bolckow, Vaughan & Co and acquiring its assets. It was possibly the largest steel producer in Britain at the time.[53]
Several large shipyards also lined the Tees, including theSir Raylton Dixon & Company, which produced hundreds of steam freighters including the infamousSS Mont-Blanc, the steamship which caused the 1917Halifax Explosion in Canada.
TheMiddlesbrough Mela is an annual, multi-cultural festival attracting an audience of up to 40,000 to enjoy a mix of live music, food, craft and fashion stalls. It began in Middlesbrough's Central Gardens, now Centre Square, and is either held there or in Albert Park.[56]
Middlesbrough also has a healthy musical heritage. A number of bands and musicians hail from the area, includingPaul Rodgers,Chris Rea, andMicky Moody.
Middlesbrough Town Hall is the pre-eminent theatre venue in Middlesbrough. It has two concert halls: the first is a classic Victorian concert hall with aproscenium stage and seating 1,190; the second, under the main hall, is called the Middlesbrough Crypt and has a capacity of up to 600. The venue is run by Middlesbrough Council and is funded, in part, by Arts Council England as aNational Portfolio Organisation specialising in music.[57] It was refurbished with the assistance of theNational Lottery Heritage Fund and reopened in 2018.[58]
TheMiddlesbrough Theatre (formerly the Little Theatre) is in the suburb ofLinthorpe. It was designed by architects Elder & De Pierro[59] and was the first purpose designed theatre to be erected in post-war England when it was opened on 22 October 1957 bySir John Gielgud.[60][61]
The town has three art galleries.Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, known locally as mima, is a purpose built contemporary art gallery which opened in January 2007. It replaced the Cleveland Gallery (closed 1999), and Cleveland Crafts Centre (closed 2003).
The Middlesbrough Art Weekender is a contemporary art festival organised by the Auxiliary that has been held in central Middlesbrough since 2017.[62] In 2019, it was held over the weekend of 26–29 September and included the works of artists such asEmily Hesse andKarina Smigla-Bobinski.[63] The Auxiliary Warehouse space, which was opened also as part of the 2019 Middlesbrough Art Weekender, is a recent addition to the contemporary art community.[64]
The Platform A Gallery is a contemporary art space at the end of platform 1 of Middlesbrough Railway Station.[65]
TheParmo originated in Middlesbrough. It consists of a breaded cutlet of meat with cheese and white sauce toppings. The parmo is widely available at takeaways in Middlesbrough.
TheSouth Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has theJames Cook University Hospital in the town. It adds to the economy through innovative projects; such as South Tees bio-incubator which acts as a launch-pad for research, innovation and collaboration between health, technology and science. It is a facility used by GlycoSeLect (UK) Ltd. as a client of the trust in strategic partnership with The Northern Health Science Alliance which has contributed £10.8 billion to the UK economy.[66]
There is also the Middlesbrough One Life Medical Centre and North Ormesby Health Village in town.Ramsey Health operate the private Tees Valley Hospital in Acklam.[69]
Cleveland Police serve Middlesbrough and the surrounding area from their Middlesbrough headquarters on Bridge Street West,Coulby Newham police station and a number of community safety hubs.
Albert Park was donated to the town by Henry Bolckow in 1866. It was formally opened byPrince Arthur on 11 August 1868, and consists of a 30-hectare (74-acre) site. The park underwent a considerable period of restoration from 2001 to 2004, during which a number of the park's landmarks saw either restoration or revival.
Stewart Park was donated to the people of Middlesbrough in 1928 by Councillor Thomas Dormand Stewart and encompasses Victorian stable buildings, lakes and animal pens. It is also home to the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum. During 2011 and 2012, the park underwent major refurbishment. It hosted theBBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in the summer of 2019.[70]
Newham Grange Leisure farm in the suburb of Coulby Newham has operated continuously in this spot since the 17th century, becoming afarm park and conservation centre farm with the first residential development of the suburb in the 1970s.
Landmarks from top left to bottom right: Acklam Hall, Grey Towers, Webb House/ The Dorman Long Office and The Middlesbrough Empire
The terracedVictorian streets surrounding the town centre are elements of Middlesbrough's social and historical identity, and the vast streets surrounding Parliament Road and Abingdon Road a reminder of the area's wealth and rapid growth during industrialisation.
The outer areas of the town have several country halls, most are of Victorian origin. Former halls include Marton Hall (on the grounds ofStewart Park), Gunnergate Hall (Coulby Newham),Tollesby Hall andPark End House.[75] They are halls that are still in existence such as Newham Hall,[76] Nunthorpe Hall,[77] Grey Towers,[78] and Coulby Manor.[79] The oldest domestic building isAcklam Hall of 1678. Built by SirWilliam Hustler, it is also the onlyGrade I listed building in Midddlesbrough.[72][80]
Middlesbrough Town Hall, designed byGeorge Gordon Hoskins and built between 1883 and 1889 is a Grade II*listed building[73] used for municipal purposes and as an entertainment venue. The Middlesbrough Empire, built in 1897 as a theatre, is a nightclub (since 1993) designed by Ernest Runtz. The first artist to perform in building as aMusic Hall wasLillie Langtry.[81] It became an early nightclub (1950s), then a bingo hall and is now once again a nightclub. In Linthorpe, is theMiddlesbrough Theatre opened by SirJohn Gielgud in 1957; it was one of the first new theatres built in England after theSecond World War.
The Dorman Long office on Zetland Road, constructed between 1881 and 1891, is the only commercial building ever designed byPhilip Webb, the architect who worked for Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell.
Via a 1907Act of Parliament,Sir William Arrol & Co. of Glasgow built theTees Transporter Bridge (1911) which spans the river between Middlesbrough andPort Clarence. It is a Grade II*listed building.[74] Some of the filmBilly Elliot was filmed on the bridge.[82] At 850 feet (260 m) long and 225 feet (69 m) high, it is one of the largest of its type in the world. Since reopening after restoration and flood protection work in 2013 and 2015[83][84] the bridge has been closed for long periods due to safety concerns.[85] In August 2022, the Mayor of Middlesbrough announced that one of the legs is sinking, and that the estimated costs of repairs have been increasing: the bridge's future remains under consideration.[86]
TheTees Newport Bridge opened further up the river in 1934. Newport bridge still stands and is passable by traffic: it formerly lifted vertically in the centre.
Sculptures: 40,000 Years of Modern Art, Bottle O' Notes and theTemenos Sculpture
TheTemenos Sculpture, designed by sculptorAnish Kapoor and designerCecil Balmond, is a steel structure near to the north west side of the Riverside Stadium. The steel structure, consisting of a pole, a circular ring and an oval ring, stands approximately 110 m long and 50 m high and is held together by steel wire. It was unveiled in 2010 at a cost of £2.7 million.
Near the town hall is the "Bottle of Notes". It was unveiled in 1993 and is the UK's only public sculpture byClaes Oldenburg. Drawing on its local surroundings, the sculpture was fabricated in South Tyneside by former ship builders,[87] and its outside is made up of text from the journals ofCaptain James Cook, who was born in the area in 1728.[88]
Teesside,Newcastle andLeeds Bradford are the closest international airports to the town; they are all connected by a rail journey with at least one change.Manchester Airport is connected directly by TransPennine's railway service.[89]
Though just outside the boundary of Middlesbrough, within a joint preservation area with Redcar and Cleveland,Ormesby Hall is an 18th-century palladian mansion, once owned by thePennyman family; it is now aNational Trust property
Teesside University traces back to 1930 at the opening of Constantine Technical College, located on Borough Road, in the town centre. The then college expanded through acquiring adjacent buildings, such as Middlesbrough High School, and by building Middlesbrough Tower. It becameTeesside Polytechnic in 1969.[101]
In 1992, the polytechnic gained university status, becoming theUniversity of Teesside. Extramural classes had previously been provided by theUniversity of LeedsAdult Education Centre on Harrow Road, from 1958 to 2001.[102] It was rebranded, in 2009, toTeesside University. It further expanded in size and courses available, until, student numbers increased to approximately 20,000 studying at the university.[103]
Teesside University Library
The university is a major presence in the town.[104] It has a growing reputation for developing digital businesses particularly in the field ofdigital animation and for hosting the Animex festival.[105] The Boho zone in the town now houses a large number of these start-up digital businesses.[106] The university has 18,000 students, 2,400 staff and operates a £250,000,000 campus in Middlesbrough town-centre. The university campus has benefited from approx £250 million of investment in recent years, including the £30 million Campus Heart scheme.
Teesside University supports a total of 2,570 full-time jobs across the Tees Valley, North East and UK economies per annum. The university contributes additional wealth to the local, regional and national economies as measured by Gross Value Added (GVA). It is estimated this contributes a total of £124 million GVA per annum. The total direct, indirect and induced spending impacts associated with full-time international students and UK students from outside of the North East is approximately £18.9 million per annum. It is estimated this spending supports 158 full-time jobs per annum in Tees Valley and contributes additional wealth of £9.3 million per annum to the local economy.[107]
The Northern School of Art (established in 1870) is also based in Middlesbrough, it has another site inHartlepool. It is one of only four specialist art and design further education colleges in the United Kingdom.
Thesynagogue in Park Road South, which opened in 1938 and closed in 1998
Ashkenazi Jews started to settle in Middlesbrough from 1862 and formed Middlesbrough Hebrew Congregation in 1870 with asynagogue in Hill Street. The synagogue moved to Brentnall Street in 1874 and then to a new building in Park Road South in 1938.[109]
Editions of theJewish Year Book record the growth and decline of Middlesbrough's Jewish population. It was about 100 in 1896–97 and peaked at 750 in 1935. It then declined to 30 in 1998, in which year the synagogue in Park Road South was ceremonially closed.[109]
TheMuslim community is represented in several mosques in Middlesbrough.Muslimsailors visited Middlesbrough from about 1890.[110] and, in 1961, Azzam and Younis Din opened the firstHalalbutcher shop.[110]
The firstmosque was a house in Grange Road in 1962.[110] There are approximately seven mosques in Middlesbrough, the most prominent of which are the Al-Madina Jamia Mosque, on Waterloo Road, the Dar ul Islam Central Mosque, on Southfield Road, and the Abu Bakr Mosque & Community Centre,[111] which is currently temporarily situated on Cannon Park Way.
The Sikh community established its firstgurdwara in Milton Street in 1967.[110] After a time in Southfield Road, the centre is now in Lorne Street and was opened in 1990.[110]
Film directorRidley Scott is from the North East and based the opening shot ofBlade Runner on the view of the old ICI plant at Wilton. He said: "There's a walk from Redcar … I'd cross a bridge at night, and walk above the steel works. So that's probably where the opening ofBlade Runner comes from. It always seemed to be rather gloomy and raining, and I'd just think "God, this is beautiful." You can find beauty in everything, and so I think I found the beauty in that darkness." It has been claimed that the site was also considered as a shooting location for one of the films in Scott'sAlien franchise.[115]
In the 2009 action thrillerThe Tournament, Middlesbrough is that year's location where the assassins' competition is being held. In November 2009, the mima art gallery was used by the presenters ofTop Gear as part of a challenge. The challenge was to see if car exhibits would be more popular than normal art.[116]
In 2024, BBC Comedy commissionedSmoggie Queens fromHat Trick Productions, an "out and out comedy centred around a gang of friends who are fiercely proud of their North Eastern town of Middlesbrough and their small pocket of the LGBTQ+ community."[121] WriterPhil Dunning described the show as "a love letter to the town".[122] The series aired on BBC Three in November 2024.
Middlesbrough hosts multiple road races through the year, including the annual Middlesbrough 10k (formerly Tees Pride 10k) road race. First held in 2005, the one-lap circuit event and associated fun runs were held in theAcklam area of the town before being moved to the town centre in 2021.[128][129]
Tees Valley Mohawks andTeesside Lions basketball teams play in theNBL Division 3. Athletics has two local clubs serving Middlesbrough and the surrounding area, Middlesbrough-and-Cleveland Harriers and Middlesbrough AC (Mandale). Training facilities at the Middlesbrough Sports Village opened in 2015, replacing Clairville Stadium.[131] Notable athletes to train at both facilities are World and European Indoor Sprint ChampionRichard Kilty, British Indoor Long Jump record holderChris Tomlinson. The sports village includes a running track with grandstand, an indoor gym and café, football pitches, as well as a cycle circuit and velodrome. Next to the sports village is a skateboard park and Middlesbrough Tennis World.[132]
Oberhausen,North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Middlesbrough and Oberhausen entered into a town twinning partnership in 1974, close ties having existed for over 50 years. Those ties began in 1953 with youth exchanges, the first of which was held in 1953. Both towns continue to be committed to twinning activities today.[133]
^Ekwall, Eilert (1960).The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 324.ISBN0-19-869103-3.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Johnston, James Brown (1915).The place-names of England and Wales. London: Murray. p. 368.OCLC1050761076.
^Chrystal, Paul (2017).The Place Names of Yorkshire; Cities, Towns, Villages, Rivers and Dales, some Pubs too, in Praise of Yorkshire Ales (1 ed.). Catrine: Stenlake. p. 58.ISBN9781840337532.
^Smith, A. H. (1979) [1928].The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire. English Place Name Society. p. 160.OCLC19714705.
^ab"Middlesbrough Civil Parish".A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth.Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved18 September 2023.
^Corrigan, Naomi; McNeal, Ian; Glover, Andrew; Brown, Mike; Huntley, David; Lunn, Katie; Cooper, Ian Robert; Jones, Samuel (27 May 2019)."Big Weekend live: The full story of an amazing weekend".gazettelive.Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved28 December 2019.
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