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is an area in the north east of
England . Its name means literally "cliff-land", referring to its hilly southern areas, which rise to nearly 1,500 ft. Cleveland, mostly part of the
North Riding Of Yorkshire , was located entirely to the south of the
River Tees and its largest town was
Guisborough .
A
Non-metropolitan County of Cleveland was created in
1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972 , named after the historic region but not covering it all, and also including land north of the River Tees in
County Durham . It was based around the
Teesside urban area and included
Middlesbrough ,
Stockton-on-Tees ,
Hartlepool and
Guisborough . The county was abolished in
1996 with its boroughs becoming
Unitary Authorities and the Tees re-established as a border for
Ceremonial Purposes .
Cleveland has 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 few decades. The
Cleveland Hills , in the southern part of the district, were key suppliers of the
Ironstone that was essential to the running of the
Blast Furnace s alongside the River Tees. Middlesbrough's Teesport is still one of the United Kingdom's main ports and the area between Middlesbrough and Redcar is still populated by many heavy industrial plants, although this is much reduced from its
20th Century peak.
Between
1974 and
1996 most of Cleveland was incorporated into a
Non-metropolitan County of the same name, formed from parts of the North Riding of Yorkshire and
County Durham . Unlike the traditional geographic area, the county was formed around the Tees estuary and included lands on both sides of the river. It excluded the southernmost parts of traditional Cleveland, including much of the
Cleveland Hills , although the original proposal for this county was much larger and covered the coast down to
Whitby .
The county was called "Cleveland", instead of "Teesside" as originally proposed in the
Local Government Bill , due to fears in areas not part of the old
Teesside County Borough that it represented a takeover. It was formed on
April 1 ,
1974 , from the former
County Borough s of
Teesside and
Hartlepool , the
Stockton Rural District from Durham, and from the North Riding of Yorkshire, the urban districts of
Guisborough ,
Loftus ,
Saltburn And Markse-by-the-Sea and
Skelton And Brotton , along with some parishes from
Stokesley Rural District .
The four districts of the County of Cleveland were
Hartlepool ,
Langbaurgh-on-Tees ,
Stockton-on-Tees , and
Middlesbrough . The county town was Middlesbrough. It had a total area of 225 square miles (583 km²) and an estimated population of 567,600 in
2000 . The county bordered
County Durham to the north and
North Yorkshire to the south, and it faced the
North Sea to the east.
Cleveland was one of the areas in the first tranche of reviews conducted by the
Banham Commission . The Commission's final recommendations, accepted by the government, were that each of the districts should be made a unitary authority, and additionally that the Tees should be re-established as a ceremonial border. This was fiercely contested by Cleveland
County Council , who applied for
Judicial Review over the decision. According to the Minister,
David Curry , in the Commons debate on the order on
January 11 ,
1995 , this caused a delay from
April 1 ,
1995 as the reorganisation date to
April 1 ,
1996 .
As the first of the Orders to be laid before Parliament, it was done in two stages. ''
The Cleveland (Structural Change) Order 1995 '' had the main effect of abolishing the County Council, whilst ''
The Cleveland (Further Provision) Order 1995 '' abolished the actual county, creating four new non-metropolitan counties coterminous with each of the boroughs. A division was forced by the Opposition, on the first Order, with 310 in favour and 223 in opposition. Of Cleveland's 6 MPs,
Mo Mowlam and
Frank Cook (both Labour) voted against, with
Tim Devlin and
Michael Bates (both Conservative) voted for.
Stuart Bell and
Peter Mandelson (both Labour) were present at the debate but did not vote.
On
April 1 ,
1996 , the Orders came into force. The district of Langbaurgh-on-Tees was renamed Redcar and Cleveland, the County of Cleveland was abolished, and four
Unitary Authorities authorities created. The post of
Lord Lieutenant Of Cleveland was abolished, with the area being split between the
Ceremonial Counties of Durham and
North Yorkshire . However,
Cleveland Police and other institutions covering the four boroughs, were retained. The area (including Hartlepool) is known as 'Teesside' for some purposes, and with
Darlington the term
Tees Valley is becoming more popular.
The name has not been entirely eliminated; these bodies still exist:
''Cleveland'' is a
Church Of England Archdeaconry , in the
Diocese Of York . It covers a large area including ''Middlesbrough'',
Thirsk ,
Pickering and Whitby.
''
Cleveland '' was for many years also the name of a constituency for the
House Of Commons . This had been created by the
Redistribution Of Seats Act 1885 , by the division of the
North Riding Constituency , and was succeeded by the
Cleveland And Whitby for
1974 .
The area is extremely varied geographically. The Tees estuary is highly industrialised and urbanised. Much of the remainder of the lowland parts of Cleveland is farmland. East Cleveland marks the northern end of the chain of cliffs that runs along the
North Yorkshire Heritage Coast . South Cleveland is extremely hilly, forming the escarpment of the
North York Moors . One of the best known symbols of Cleveland is the distinctive hill of
Roseberry Topping , which overlooks
Newton-under-Roseberry on the
Great Ayton to Guisborough road. Its original roughly conical form was undercut by extensive mining, giving it a jagged appearance that many have thought reminiscent of the
Matterhorn mountain.
- Historic Cleveland , full of useful information about that part of the old North Riding of Yorkshire from the River Tees down to the Moors
