''A Century in Stone'' is a 2004 documentary film by Craig Hornby. It tells the story of how the discovery of ironstone at

Eston Eston is a Village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The ward covering the area (as well as Lackenby, Lazenby and Wilton) had a population of 7,005 at the 2011 census. It is part of Greater Eston, which include ...

in 1850 sparked the transformation of

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

from rural backwater to iron-making capital of the world. Craig Hornby was awarded a prestigious £75,000

NESTA Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is an innovation foundation based in the UK. The organisation acts through a combination of programmes, investment, policy and research, and the formation of part ...

fellowship award to fund the film. Further funding totalling £28,000 came from Northern Arts,

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority of Redcar and Cleveland. It is a unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional fun ...

, Northern Film & Media,

UK Trade & Investment , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = UKtrade.svg , logo_width = 190px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Department for Business, Enter ...

Teesside University , mottoeng = Deeds Not Words , established = 1930 – Constantine Technical College1969 – as Teesside Polytechnic 1992 – gained university status , type = Public , endowment = £0.23 m (2019/20) , chancellor ...

and

Middlesbrough Council Middlesbrough Council, formerly known as Middlesbrough Borough Council, is a unitary authority based in Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. The authority has combined some duties with its nearby councils to form the Tees Valley Combined ...

. Launched in 2004, "A Century in Stone" attracted thousands to clubs and halls across Teesside before becoming the first local film to be shown at a mainstream cinema chain on Teesside. In its first week at UGC Middlesbrough (now

Cineworld Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...

), it outsold all the other films leading to an extended run of 18 days. In November 2004, the film and director were featured at Sheffield DocFest as part of a seminar on independent film-making. At Xmas 2004, the film became a DVD/VHS bestseller in stores across Teesside. Sales to date exceed 15,000. In August 2005, the film opened at

Dendy Cinemas Dendy Cinema Pty Limited is an Australian cinema chain. Dendy operates in Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Its main competitors are Hoyts, Village, Event, Wallis Cinemas, Palace Cinemas and Reading. It is a subsidiary of Icon ...

in Sydney Harbour due to

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

being made with Cleveland ironstone/Teesside Steel by Dorman Long of

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 a ...

in 1932. This was followed with screenings in Brisbane, Melbourne, Fremantle, Adelaide and Newcastle NSW. In 2010, the film was selected by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

for screening at the BFI Mediatheques on London's South Bank and around the UK. In 2010, audio extracts from the film and interviews on

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 ...

with Craig Hornby were featured in a BBC Radio 4 'Archive on 4' documentary entitled 'Redcar - Made of Steel'. This was produced with Teesside-born actor

Felicity Finch Felicity Finch (born 14 March 1955) is a British actress, known for her Northumberland-accented portrayal of Ruth Archer in ''The Archers'' on BBC Radio 4. Early life Felicity Finch was born in the London Borough of Southwark and grew up in Eagle ...

in the wake of the first closure of the Redcar Blast Furnace.

References

External links

A Century in Stone - Pancrack Pictures
* 2004 films British television films British documentary films Teesside 2004 documentary films Documentary films about England 2000s English-language films 2000s British films {{UK-documentary-film-stub