The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of 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 Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England, overlooking

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

and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the

North York Moors National Park North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. Part of the long

Cleveland Way The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in the historic area of Cleveland in North Yorkshire, northern England. It runs between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park. History Development of the Clevelan ...

National Trail runs along the hills, and they are also crossed by a section of Wainwright's

Coast to Coast Walk The Coast to Coast Walk is a long-distance footpath between the west and east coasts of Northern England, nominally long. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, th ...

. The hills, which rise abruptly from the flat

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a mayoral combined authority and Local enterprise partnership area in northern England, around the River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The LEP was established in 2011 and the combined authority was establish ...

to the north, include distinctive landmarks such as the cone-shaped peak of

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 ...

, near the village of

Great Ayton Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees) flows through the village, which lies just north of the North York Moors. Etymology Great Ayton's ...

– childhood home of Captain James Cook.

Geology

The hills are formed by multiple stacked layers of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

age

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s. The scarp rises above the low ground to the north and west formed by the

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

s of the Redcar Mudstone Formation, though largely buried beneath glacial till from the last ice age. The same formation also provides the lowermost slopes of the scarp. The full sequence, presented in stratigraphic order, i.e. youngest/uppermost at top is: *

Ravenscar Group The Ravenscar Group is a Jurassic lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) which occurs within the Cleveland Basin of North Yorkshire and extends to both the Hambleton and Howardian Hills. The name is derived from Ravenscar on the N ...

(

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...

) **Scalby Formation (including the Long Nab and Moor Grit 'members') **Scarborough Formation **Cloughton Formation **Eller Beck Formation **Saltwick Formation **Dogger Formation * Lias Group ( early/lower Jurassic) **Whitby Mudstone Formation (including the Mulgrave Shale Member) **Cleveland Ironstone Formation **Staithes Sandstone Formation **Redcar Mudstone Formation Most of these formations are various combinations of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, mudstone and

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

though a couple also contain

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s and the Cleveland Ironstone and Eller Beck formations include ironstone, the former having been exploited for the ironworking industry in former times. The

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

surface is largely formed by the sandstones of the Saltwick and Cloughton formations whilst the summit of Roseberry Topping is an

outlier In statistics, an outlier is a data point that differs significantly from other observations. An outlier may be due to a variability in the measurement, an indication of novel data, or it may be the result of experimental error; the latter are ...

of the Saltwick Formation separated from the main Cleveland Hills range by erosion. The Cleveland Dyke cuts through the hills forming the

Langbaurgh Ridge Langbaurgh Ridge () is an 8.0 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the hamlet of Langbaurgh in North Yorkshire, England, notified in 1986. The site crosses the boundary of the Redcar and Cleveland district and Hamblet ...

and Cliff Ridge just south of Roseberry Topping where Cliff Rigg Quarry has exploited this

Palaeogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

age

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

intrusion In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

for use as roadstone. Glaciofluvial deposits are scattered around the margins of the hills, notably in Kildale whilst

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

has accumulated on the plateau surface in some areas.

Landslip Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

s are common in the Lias Group rocks along the scarp face in the west and in Raisdale to the south.

History

Early man

There are a number of tumuli and

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...

s scattered throughout the Cleveland Hills and North York Moors, dating back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, as well as many

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s that are of varied ages, some of which are relatively modern. Hundreds of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

arrowheads have been discovered during excavations in the hills and dated to the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

periods, indication of an active population in prehistoric times across the region.

Stone circles in the Cleveland Hills

Commondale Commondale is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England that lies within the North York Moors National Park. The village is served by Commondale railway station. It has a small pub called The Clevelan ...

* Tripsdale "Bride Stones" * Thimbleby "Nine Stones"

Mining and industry

In 1850 ironstone was discovered by John Marley of

Bolckow and Vaughan Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd was an English ironmaking and mining company founded in 1864, based on the partnership since 1840 of its two founders, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan. The firm drove the dramatic growth of Middlesbrough and the prod ...

in the

Eston Hills 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 ...

, outliers of the Cleveland Hills, leading to mining on a large scale and the rapid growth of nearby

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 ...

. By the 1870s industry would be producing steel in vast amounts, and mining for coal,

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...

jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

, cement stone concretions, shale and

potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.

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.

Hill data

The following heights are some of the highest or most notable in the range.

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:

Interesting places to see

Captain Cook Birthplace Museum Captain Cook Birthplace Museum is a public museum located in Stewart Park in Marton, Middlesbrough within the borough of Middlesbrough and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is one of two institutions managed by Middlesb ...

, Marton, Middlesbrough * Captain Cook Monument,

Easby Moor Easby Moor is a hill located in the civil parish of Little Ayton in the North York Moors National Parks of England and Wales, national park within the Cleveland Hills, North Yorkshire, England. At the peak, above sea level, is a monument to Ca ...

* Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum, Great Ayton * Roseberry Topping * Wainstones, Hasty Bank Bilsdale West Moor, situated in the Cleveland Hills, is home to the tall

Bilsdale transmitting station The Bilsdale transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, located at Bilsdale West Moor above Bilsdale, close to Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England. The original facility included a Radio masts and towers#Tubular ste ...

, providing 40–50 miles coverage of

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

transmissions for digital TV and radio in the north-east's Tyne Tees region. The

digital switchover The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...

at Bilsdale was completed in two stages, on 12 and 26 September 2012, one of the last transmitters in England to complete this operation, the others being

Pontop Pike The Pontop Pike transmitting station is a facility for telecommunications and broadcasting situated on a 312-metre (1,024-ft) high hill of the same name between Stanley and Consett, County Durham, near the village of Dipton, England. The mas ...

and

Chatton Chatton is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is roughly to the east of Wooler. History Chatton has been occupied for many centuries. There has been a church on the site since the twelfth century. There is evidence of occupation in ...

in the same region.

References

External links

North York Moors National Park

North York Moors and Cleveland Hills
{{SSSIs Cleveland Mountains and hills of North Yorkshire Redcar and Cleveland North York Moors