Port Mulgrave is a derelict former

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

exporting port on the

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

coast midway between

Staithes Staithes () is a village in North Yorkshire, England, situated by the border between the unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and Redcar and Cleveland. The area located on the Redcar and Cleveland side is known as Cowbar. Formerly a hub for f ...

and

Runswick Bay Runswick Bay is a bay in North Yorkshire, England. It is also the name of a village located on the western edge of the bay (although the village is sometimes shortened to Runswick on UK road signs). It is north of Whitby, and close to the vil ...

in the civil parish of

Hinderwell Hinderwell is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England which lies within the North York Moors National Park, about a mile from the coast on the A174 road between the towns of Loftus and Whitby. The 2011 UK census states Hinderw ...

. Rows of domestic properties and individual houses exist on the top of the cliff. Historically the locality was known as Rosedale, but to avoid confusion with the ironstone mines and iron works at Rosedale in the middle 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 ...

the area was renamed Port Mulgrave for the local landowner the

Earl of Mulgrave The title Earl of Mulgrave has been created twice. The first time as a title in the Peerage of England and the second time as a Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in 1626 for Edmund Sheffield, 3r ...

History

In the 1850s Sir Charles Palmer opened an

mine at Rosedale Wyke, Port Mulgrave with ironstone loaded onto small vessels from a wooden jetty. The barges were moved in and out using a

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

A nearby harbour was constructed by Sir Charles Palmer in 1856-57 at a cost of £45,000. Initially the harbour exported ironstone to

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...

on Tyneside to supply

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. The company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern ...

founded by Sir Charles Palmer. Later ironstone was sent to blast furnaces by the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

. When the mine at Rosedale Wyke began to run out Sir Charles Palmer established Grinkle ironstone mine to the east near the hamlet of Dalehouse and in 1875 a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

line was built to the mine. The ironstone wagons from Grinkle Mine were taken over bridges then through a tunnel under Ridge Lane down a mile long inclined tunnel on a

cable railway A cable railway is a railway that uses a Wire rope, cable, rope or chain to haul trains. It is a specific type of cable transportation. The most common use for a cable railway is to move vehicles on a Grade (slope), steeply graded line that is t ...

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam car ...

situated by the east pier then emerging in the cliff side 30 ft above sea level. The railway wagons were then led onto a

gantry A gantry is an overhead bridge-like structure supporting equipment such as a crane, signals, or cameras. Devices and structures *Gantry (medical), cylindrical scanner assembly used for medical 3D-imaging or treatment *Gantry (transport), an over ...

with bunkers on the east harbour wall ready for loading the ironstone directly into ships in the harbour. The tunnel entrance at the harbour can still be seen but it is sealed up. In 1911 the pier gantry and boiler house were damaged by a serious fire however, the damage was repaired. In 1916 Grinkle Mine was connected to the

Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (WRMU), the Whitby–Loftus Line, was a railway line in North Yorkshire, England, built between 1871 and 1886, running from Loftus on the Yorkshire coast to the Esk at Whitby, and connecting ...

thus avoiding the wartime hazards of shipping and the tramway tunnel abandoned. Port Mulgrave was a busy port for 40 years but the harbour was redundant by 1920 due to the railway link and cheaper foreign sources of ironstone becoming available. After falling into disuse the harbour was left to decay. In 1934 Grinkle Mine was abandoned, then the harbour machinery was sold off as scrap and the gantry accidentally destroyed by a fire. The west harbour breakwater wall was deliberately destroyed by the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

to prevent its use as part of any German invasion during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Geography

The geology of the cliffs is

Whitby Mudstone Formation The Whitby Mudstone is a Toarcian (Early Jurassic; ''Falciferum''-''Bifrons'' in regional chronostratigraphy) geological formation in Yorkshire and Worcestershire, England.Cleveland Ironstone Formation The Cleveland Ironstone Formation is a sequence of marine ironstone seams interbedded with shale and siltstone units which collectively form a part of the Lower Jurassic System of rocks underlying Cleveland in North Yorkshire. Exploitation of ...

} with traces of Jet in the shale. The official access route to the beach is down a steep path leading to a wooden ladder. The cliff area is subject to

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

, landslips and path closures, and the tide can cut off beach walkers. In 2022, the steps down to the beach collapsed during a landslip making it difficult for visitors to access safely.

Ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

and reptile

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s can be found on the foreshore and in the cliffs and because of this it is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. However, digging fossils out of the crumbling cliffs and

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. The term ''scree'' is ap ...

s is dangerous. The beach is composed of rock, sand and stones. The

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 Cleve ...

walking route passes along the top of the cliff.

Economy

Some inshore fishing using

coble The coble is a type of open traditional fishing boat which developed on the North East coast of England. The southernmost examples occur around Hull (although Cooke drew examples at Yarmouth, see his ''Shipping and Craft'' series of drawin ...

s takes place from the harbour. Fishing cabins made from

flotsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are terms for various types of property lost or abandoned at sea. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A ...

and found materials can be seen by the cliffs next to the harbour.

References

External links

East Cleveland Image Archivepage 2
* Hidden Teesside
Port Mulgrave Ironstone MineGrinkle Ironstone Mine
* Explorer sites
28dayslaterOblivion State
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, North = ''

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

'' , Northeast = ''

'' , West = , Centre = Port Mulgrave , East = , Southwest =

, South = , Southeast =

{{Coastal settlements , place = North Yorkshire , settlement = Port Mulgrave , anticlockwise =

, clockwise =

{{The Yorkshire coast {{North Yorkshire {{Ports of Yorkshire and the Humber Populated coastal places in North Yorkshire Hinderwell

History

Geography

Economy

See also

References

External links