Teesdale is a
dale
Dale or dales may refer to:
Locations
* Dale (landform), an open valley
* Dale (place name element)
Geography
;Australia
* The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean
;Canada
* Dale, Ontario
;Ethiopia
* Dale (woreda), district
;Norway
* ...
, or
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
, in
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...
. The dale is in 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 ...
’s
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the
Skerne and
Leven Leven may refer to:
People
* Leven (name), list of people with the name
Nobility
* Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland
Placenames
* Leven, Fife, a town in Scotland
* Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
* Leven st ...
.
Upper Teesdale
Upper Teesdale is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the west County Durham, England. It encompasses an extensive upland area that includes the headwaters of the River Tees and the surrounding catchment area upstream of the village ...
, more commonly just Teesdale, falls between the
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
and
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954.
The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...
. Large parts of Upper Teesdale are in the
North Pennines
The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north–south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and ...
AONB
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of rural area, countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for protected area, conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are desig ...
(Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) - the second largest AONB in England and Wales. 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 ...
rises below
Cross Fell, the highest hill in the Pennines at , and its uppermost valley is remote and high. The local climate was scientifically classified as "Sub-Arctic" and snow has sometimes lain on Cross Fell into June (there is an alpine ski area Yad Moss).
Lower Teesdale has mixed urban (
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 ...
or
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 ...
) and rural (
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
) parts.
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 ...
is a notable hill on the south eastern side, of which this and other
adjoining hills form the northern end 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 heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...
.
Newer terms have gained stronger associations with separate parts of the valley due to their use as specific political constituencies and authorities.
Geology
Unusually for the Pennines, rock of
igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
origin (the
Whin Sill) contributes to the surface geology and scenery of Upper Teesdale. Around 295 million years ago upwelling
magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natura ...
spread through fissures and between
strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as e ...
in the earlier
Carboniferous Limestone country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal ...
. As it cooled (an event which is believed to have lasted 50 years) the rock contracted and caused itself to split into vertical columns. The heating of the limestone above the rock also caused it to be turned into a crumbly marble known as ''Sugar Limestone''.
Economic deposits in
Llandovery
Llandovery (; cy, Llanymddyfri ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and west of Brecon.
Hi ...
rocks include soft shales that were previously worked to be used as slate pencils.
More recently,
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
glacial activity shaped the valley, and much of the pre-glacial river course is now buried beneath
glacial drift
In geology, drift is a name for all sediment (clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by glacial meltwater. Drift is often subdivided into (unsorted and) unstratified drift (gla ...
.
Botany
In places this impervious
dolerite
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro,
is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...
rock, with shallow soil above it, prevented the growth of scrub or trees: this enabled certain post-glacial Arctic / Alpine plants to survive here when elsewhere as a rule they were overgrown. The ''Sugar Limestone'' formed by thermal
metamorphism
Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of ch ...
of the limestone into which the Whin Sill was intruded also meets the requirements of some of these plants. Teesdale is famous among naturalists for the "Teesdale Assemblage" of plants found together here that occur widely separated in other locations, abroad or in the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...
.
Part of
Upper Teesdale
Upper Teesdale is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the west County Durham, England. It encompasses an extensive upland area that includes the headwaters of the River Tees and the surrounding catchment area upstream of the village ...
near the
Cow Green Reservoir
Cow Green Reservoir is a long water reservoir forming part of the border between the historic counties of Westmorland and County Durham in northern England, built between 1967 and 1971 to supply the industries of Teesside.
The reservoir a ...
is designated a
National Nature Reserve; it contains the unique Teesdale Violet and the blue
Spring Gentian as well as more common Pennine flowers such as
rockrose, spring sandwort, mountain pansy, bird's-eye primrose and
butterwort
''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...
. Hay meadows in the valley above High Force, some now carefully cultivated to ensure this, contain an extremely rich variety of flowering plants including globe flower, wood cranesbill and Early Purple Orchid. On the south bank of the Tees near High Force can be seen the largest surviving juniper wood in England.
Geography and history
Over ledges in the
Whin Sill fall the famous waterfalls of
High Force and
Low Force
Low Force is an 18-foot (5.5m) high set of falls on the River Tees, England, UK. Further upstream is the High Force waterfall. Low Force is also the site of the Wynch Bridge, completed in 1830. It is suggested that only one person at a time shoul ...
and the cataract of
Cauldron Snout. The Tees then reaches and passes between
Barnard Castle and
Startforth
Startforth is a village on the Pennines end of south Teesdale, England. The population of Startforth taken at the 2011 Census was 1,361. It is historically located in the North Riding of Yorkshire, but along with the rest of the former Startfort ...
, thereafter passing to the south of
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...
, through the
borough of Stockton-on-Tees
The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority with borough status in the counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. The borough had a population of 191,600 in 2011.
The main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stock ...
and north 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 ...
, reaching the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
between the boroughs of
Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County D ...
and
Redcar & Cleveland. The Skerne runs through Darlington while the Leven starts and runs between
Yarm and
Ingleby Barwick
Ingleby Barwick is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It is south of the River Tees and north-east of the River Leven.
Large scale development of the town started in the late 1970s on farm l ...
in the
borough of Stockton-on-Tees
The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority with borough status in the counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. The borough had a population of 191,600 in 2011.
The main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stock ...
then through
Stokesley then
Great Ayton in the
Hambleton District
Hambleton is a local government district in North Yorkshire, England. The administrative centre is Northallerton, and the district includes the outlying towns and villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley, and Easingwold.
The ...
borough.
West Teesdale's principal town and most populous settlement is
Barnard Castle,
a historic market town that is home to the renowned
Bowes Museum
The Bowes Museum is an art gallery in the town of Barnard Castle, in County Durham in northern England. It was built to designs by Jules Pellechet and John Edward Watson to house the art collection of John Bowes and his wife Joséphine Benoî ...
. It also includes the small town of
Middleton-in-Teesdale
Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale between Eggleston and Newbiggin, a few miles to the north-west of Barnard Castle. The settlement is surrounded by the North Pennin ...
and a number of villages, including
Mickleton,
Eggleston
Eggleston is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 448. It is situated in Teesdale, a few miles north-west of Barnard Castle.
Etymology
The second element of ''Eggleston'' ...
,
Romaldkirk
Romaldkirk is a village in Teesdale, in the Pennines of England. The village lies within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but has been administered by County Durham since 1974.
It is thought that the name might be deri ...
and
Cotherstone
Cotherstone is a village and civil parish in the Pennine hills, in Teesdale, County Durham, England.
Cotherstone lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rura ...
.
Middleton was a lead-mining centre, and plentiful traces of this industry can be seen round the adjoining slopes and side-valleys. On the south side of Teesdale looms 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 ...
burial site of
Kirkcarrion.
East Teesdale has been described as being the area between the a point west of Darlington and
Teesmouth, where the Tees flows through flatter country, which is also known also as
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 ...
. Middlesbrough is the most populous town in the valley as a whole.
The valley runs roughly parallel to
Weardale (including Bishop Auckland and Sunderland),
Durham Dales
The Durham Dales is the name given to a large area of landscape in the west of County Durham, consisting primarily of the Durham portion of the North Pennines, in England.
Geography
The Durham Dales consist primarily of a series of high expose ...
on the northern side and south is
Swaledale (including Richmond),
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954.
The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...
to the west and the
Cleveland Hills
The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part 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 heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...
to the east.
Teesdale gave its name to the former
Teesdale district of
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...
, although the south side of Teesdale lies within the
historic county boundaries of the
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres).
From the Restoration it was used ...
. Formerly the
Startforth Rural District
Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the North Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire in the Pennines of northern England.
It was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894. It constituted the part of the Teesdale ...
, it was transferred to County Durham for
administrative and
ceremonial
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular ...
purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
. All of West Teesdale lies within the parliamentary constituency of Bishop Auckland (County Durham).
Uses in local culture
*
Teesdale (district)
Teesdale was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council was based in Barnard Castle and it was named after the valley of the River Tees.
That part of the district south of the River Tees is histori ...
,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...
*
Teesdale Allotments, Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district
*
Teesdale Mercury, newspaper
*
Middleton-in-Teesdale
Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale between Eggleston and Newbiggin, a few miles to the north-west of Barnard Castle. The settlement is surrounded by the North Pennin ...
*
Forest-in-Teesdale
Forest-in-Teesdale is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated in upper Teesdale
Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into s ...
*
Teesdale School,
Barnard Castle
*
Teesdale Way
The Teesdale Way is a long-distance walk between the Cumbrian Pennines and the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire in England. The walk is in length; it links in with other long-distance walks such as the Pennine Way and the E2 European Walk ...
, path following the river Tees
*Teesdale Iron Works, former name of defunct
Head Wrightson
Head Wrightson was a big heavy industrial firm based at Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It specialised in the manufacture of large industrial products such as fractional distillation columns, which sometimes needed special transport ...
large heavy industrial firm based at Thornaby-on-Tees
**
Teesdale Business Park
Teesdale Business Park is a major business park on the former site of Head Wrightsons' Teesdale works in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The park was redeveloped by the Teesside Development Corporation.
The area is immediately no ...
, on the site of the former works
**Teesdale Park,
Thornaby FC Ground
See also
*
Cleveland, England
Cleveland is a land of hills and dales from the River Tees to Vale of Pickering, England. The name means “cliff-land”.
The area corresponds to the former Langbaurgh Wapentake. The North York Moors national park, established in 1952, co ...
*
Cleveland Hills
The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the ...
*
List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cleveland
This is a list of the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Cleveland, England, Cleveland, England, United Kingdom. In England the body responsible for designating SSSIs is Natural England, which chooses a site because of its fauna, p ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
Explore TeesdaleBowes Museum, Barnard CastleMiddleton PlusNorth Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and European GeoparkYad Moss Ski Area
{{Authority control
River Tees
Valleys of North Yorkshire
Valleys of County Durham
nl:Teesdale