Eston Nab
Encyclopedia
Eston Nab is a local landmark to those who live along the River Tees
, in north-east England.
A nab is a rocky promontory, or outcrop, and Eston Nab, marking the highest point – at 242 metres (794 ft) - on the escarpment
which forms Eston Hills, appears as a clear sandstone
cliff
on the northernmost edge of Eston Moor. It overlooks the town of Eston
, which is part of the Middlesbrough
conurbation, and can be seen from beyond Hartlepool
on the northern side of Tees Bay.
It is the site of Bronze Age
burial mounds and an Iron Age
hill fort. However, regardless of all its history, to local people, the name of Eston Nab is synonymous with the monument that stands there. When families went out for a walk together – the monument at Eston Nab was the destination of choice.
have been found, such as flint
arrowhead
s, possibly date back to between 6000 and 4000 B.C.
Frank Elgee, curator of the Dorman Museum
, Middlesbrough
, in 1927, uncovered parts of an earthenware
cremation
urn
, together with burnt bone and flint. These possibly dated from 1800 B.C.
There was a substantial Iron Age hill fort at Eston Nab. Boulder walls and ditches are still visible even though they were built in around 700 B.C.
Eston Hills, of which it is the highest point, had a warren of cavernous tunnels carved into them, to create the ironstone mines that closed in 1950. They formed the original basis for the iron and steel industry on the River Tees
and the building of Middlesbrough
. Eston Nab featured in the film, A Century in Stone
, a film about the Eston mines. The monument was shown as it was in the early 19th century.
made of sandstone
bricks. It was originally built as a lookout tower and beacon
to warn of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars
in the early 19th century. With the advent of ironstone
mining
in Eston Hills, the beacon was used as a house and survived until 1956. It was then demolished and later rebuilt into its present form.
.
Wildlife includes, lapwing
, curlew
, green woodpecker
and linnet
. There are various butterflies and dragonflies.
The area around Eston Nab is managed - for its wildlife, archaeology and amenity. Many people use the Hills for walking, cycling and horse riding. There are several self-guided walk leaflets, which take in points of interest. These are available at the Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park Visitor Centre, Normanby
.
The Eston Hills provide access to the wider countryside via the public right of way network. The land owned or managed by the Redcar and Cleveland
Borough Council is mostly bordered by farmland. Eston Nab commands an excellent view of the nearby Roseberry Topping
, which stands higher at 320 metres (1,049.9 ft).
and their forest of aerials and transmitters - broadcasting local radio from this convenient high spot. The advent of these communication towers was controversial when they were first installed, because the monument at Eston Nab, and the skyline that it was part of, had become such a familiar symbol of the area. A road has been extended, however, right up to the summit of the Nab and this could be seen as a benefit in giving access to local people that they might not have had before.
River Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
, in north-east England.
A nab is a rocky promontory, or outcrop, and Eston Nab, marking the highest point – at 242 metres (794 ft) - on the escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
which forms Eston Hills, appears as a clear sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
on the northernmost edge of Eston Moor. It overlooks the town of Eston
Eston
Eston is a town within the Unitary Authority of Redcar and Cleveland, England. Within the Middlesbrough agglomeration it falls inside the Greater Eston initiative...
, which is part of the Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
conurbation, and can be seen from beyond Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
on the northern side of Tees Bay.
It is the site of Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
burial mounds and an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hill fort. However, regardless of all its history, to local people, the name of Eston Nab is synonymous with the monument that stands there. When families went out for a walk together – the monument at Eston Nab was the destination of choice.
Historical Site
Remains from the Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
have been found, such as flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
arrowhead
Arrowhead
An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used...
s, possibly date back to between 6000 and 4000 B.C.
Frank Elgee, curator of the Dorman Museum
Dorman Museum
Dorman Museum is a general museum located in Linthorpe within the borough of Middlesbrough and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. From its establishment in 1904 initial thematical leanings were towards the natural sciences, although galleries of the local Linthorpe Pottery, and of...
, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, in 1927, uncovered parts of an earthenware
Earthenware
Earthenware is a common ceramic material, which is used extensively for pottery tableware and decorative objects.-Types of earthenware:Although body formulations vary between countries and even between individual makers, a generic composition is 25% ball clay, 28% kaolin, 32% quartz, and 15%...
cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
, together with burnt bone and flint. These possibly dated from 1800 B.C.
There was a substantial Iron Age hill fort at Eston Nab. Boulder walls and ditches are still visible even though they were built in around 700 B.C.
Eston Hills, of which it is the highest point, had a warren of cavernous tunnels carved into them, to create the ironstone mines that closed in 1950. They formed the original basis for the iron and steel industry on the River Tees
River Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
and the building of Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
. Eston Nab featured in the film, A Century in Stone
A Century in Stone
A Century in Stone is a 2004 documentary film depicting the rise of Eston's iron and steel industry.It is 118 minutes long project was funded by the first £75,000 fellowship award from NESTA to be awarded in the north east....
, a film about the Eston mines. The monument was shown as it was in the early 19th century.
The Monument
The monument is in the form of a pillarColumn
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
made of sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
bricks. It was originally built as a lookout tower and beacon
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...
to warn of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in the early 19th century. With the advent of ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in Eston Hills, the beacon was used as a house and survived until 1956. It was then demolished and later rebuilt into its present form.
| A plaque on the side of the monument reads:
|
Wildlife and Recreation
At only 242 metres (794 ft) above sea level at its highest point, Eston Nab is classed as Lowland heathLowland heath
Lowland Heath is a Biodiversity Action Plan Habitat as it is an ancient wild landscape type. Natural England's Environmental Stewardship scheme describes it as containing dry heath, wet heath and valley mire communities, usually below 250 metres, on acidic soils and shallow peat, typically...
.
Wildlife includes, lapwing
Lapwing
Vanellinae are any of various crested plovers, family Charadriidae, noted for its slow, irregular wingbeat in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. Its length is 10-16 inches. They are a subfamily of medium-sized wading birds which also includes the plovers and dotterels. The Vanellinae are...
, curlew
Curlew
The curlews , genus Numenius, are a group of eight species of birds, characterised by long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. They are one of the most ancient lineages of scolopacid waders, together with the godwits which look similar but have straight bills...
, green woodpecker
Green Woodpecker
The European Green Woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. There are four subspecies and it occurs in most parts of Europe and in western Asia...
and linnet
Linnet
The Linnet is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.The Linnet derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp and its English name from its liking for seeds of flax, from which linen is made.- Description :...
. There are various butterflies and dragonflies.
The area around Eston Nab is managed - for its wildlife, archaeology and amenity. Many people use the Hills for walking, cycling and horse riding. There are several self-guided walk leaflets, which take in points of interest. These are available at the Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park Visitor Centre, Normanby
Normanby
- Places in England :*Normanby, Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire*Normanby, Ryedale, North Yorkshire*Normanby, North Lincolnshire, home of Normanby Hall*Normanby by Spital*Normanby by Stow*Normanby le Wold- Places in Australia :*Normanby, Queensland...
.
The Eston Hills provide access to the wider countryside via the public right of way network. The land owned or managed by the Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland
The borough of Redcar & Cleveland is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England consisting of Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, and small towns such as Brotton, Eston, Skelton and Loftus. It had a resident population of 139,132 in 2001, and is part of the Tees...
Borough Council is mostly bordered by farmland. Eston Nab commands an excellent view of the nearby Roseberry Topping
Roseberry Topping
Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill on the border between North Yorkshire and the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, 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...
, which stands higher at 320 metres (1,049.9 ft).
Bauer Teesside
Eston Nab is also home to Bauer TeessideBauer Teesside
Bauer Teesside is a local commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which serves the Tees Valley area.EMAP was the only for the licence by the closing date of 14 March 2000. It was awarded the licence on 12 May 2000...
and their forest of aerials and transmitters - broadcasting local radio from this convenient high spot. The advent of these communication towers was controversial when they were first installed, because the monument at Eston Nab, and the skyline that it was part of, had become such a familiar symbol of the area. A road has been extended, however, right up to the summit of the Nab and this could be seen as a benefit in giving access to local people that they might not have had before.