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 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 to

Pickering Pickering may refer to: Places Antarctica * Pickering Nunataks, Alexander Island Australia * Pickering, South Australia, the original name (1872–1940) of the town of Wool Bay * Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia Canada * Pic ...

and Thirsk to Whitby, effectively the eastern half of

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

'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 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 atmospheric p ...

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 ( 1885–1974) 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 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 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 distinct o ...

.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 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 ...

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

Geographical features

The area is geographically varied: * North York Moors * Howardian Hills * Roseberry Topping: 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 mountain. *

** River Leven * Eston Nab

Districts

* Hambleton (part) * Middlesbrough * Redcar and Cleveland * Stockton-on-Tees (south Tees) * Scarborough

Titles

* Lord Lieutenant of Cleveland * 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