History

Recorded history begins in the early 7^th century when the Bishop of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) authorized a religious house on the Heugh, the land north of the harbour; the land was named Hereteu, the Island of the Hart.

The monastery's second abbess was St. Hilda who was an Irish princess, a great niece of King Edwin, she later founded Whitby Abby. She was appointed by St. Aiden.

The monks who settled Hereteu hailed from Northumbria, and were given the land for supporting a victorious king in a local conflict.

Soon Hereteu was surrounded by villages and settlements, and the district was named Herterpol - from the image of a hart drinking from a pool of water.

During a Viking raid Hereteu was destroyed but the communities surrounding the monastery survived, and retained the district name of Herterpol.

As a reward for outstanding service to the Norman cause, William of Normandy gave Hartlepool over to the Brus family.

Lord William de Brus founded the building of St. Hilda's church in 1129 on the site of the much older monastery.

The site of a natural harbour and a small fishing town for hundreds of years, Hartlepool was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1201, which allowed the local people the freedom to set up a corporation for their own self government..

In 1322 The Scots arrived at Hartlepool, but failed to penetrate the town wall.

In 1535 The Parliament of Henry VIII removed Hartlepool from Durham and me it a part of North Yorkshire. 1536 as part of his ongoing dispute with the clergy, Henry VIII ordered many monasteries closed. Hartlepool Friarage was amongst the casualties. 1569 Royalty and religion continue to play havoc with one another, as seventeen people accused of treason against the new Protestant faith of Elizabeth I were hanged in the town's market place.

In 1587 The Bubonic Plague reached Hartlepool.

1593 a second town Charter was issued by Elizabeth I which transferred the income from the fair and market from the lord of the manor to the town.

Ralph Ward Jackson built West Hartlepool in the 1830's partly in protest against coal shipment charges and in 1869 he became the first Member of Parliament - of both Hartlepools.

In the 1830's when a railway was built to connect Hartlepool to the collieries of the South Durham Coalfield, work began on modern docks to handle the increased traffic. This led to the port thriving, with the exporting of coal and importing of timber. An Act of Parliament in 1844 allowed the building of rival docks and the 'West Hartlepool Dock Company' was formed. They opened on 1st June 1847, and around them the new town of West Hartlepool grew and quickly overshowed the old town.

Seaton Carew became part of Hartlepool in 1882.

The town was shelled by German warships in 1914, 128 people were killed and 400 wounded.

In 1917 Hartlepool received a morale-boosting visit from King George V and Queen Mary.

The first air raid by the Luftwaffe occurred in 1940. The Hartlepools endured many air raids, causing massive damage.

Another great timber fire occurred in 1949 this time at Seaton Carew.

1959 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan visited the Hartlepools.

In 1967 the ancient seaport of Hartlepool merged with its Victorian neighbour, West Hartlepool.

Hartlepool declined and unemployment rose in the 1970's. Closures of the traditional industries that had led to the town's expansion and wealth of the nineteenth century saw unemployment rise once again in the 1980's.

Hartlepool developed a major base at Seal Sands on the Tees estuary for the storage and processing of North Sea oil and gas.

A nuclear power station south of Seaton Carew began production at the end of 1980.

A new marina complex built on the site of the old docks brought about a revival in the 1990's.

New jobs have been found in service industries, manufacturing and tourism.

In the year 2000, Hartlepool people entered a new millenia with a feeling of pride in their town.