Bridlegill Bog

The crowded summit of Roseberry Topping seen from the quieter and 4 metres higher trig point on Guisborough Moor.

A ‘Brick Field’ is shown on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1853). It is thought to have been set up to provide bricks for the construction of the houses at Hutton village, which must be the row of ten cottages called ‘Wat’s Lane’ that were located south of the later school site (now a private residence). You will need to compare the 1856 map with the 1895 one to appreciate how much has changed in this area. Courtesy of Joseph Pease when he built his Hutton Hall. Wat’s Lane was built just before 1853 by Henry Thomas, the owner of Codhill Farm but they were soon leased to Pease. The 1861 census records 52 folks living there and none ten years later. Pease also leased land from Thomas called Bank Bottom Close (the site of the modern Hutton village) but agreed the latter could build houses on it. I’m not sure exactly how Pease would have benefitted from this. In 1855, the land was sold to Matthew Armitage of Darlington (again presumably with Pease’s agreement) to build 12 cottages again using bricks from the Bousdale brickworks. Pease was soon leasing the houses from Armitage and built another nine or ten cottages for his ironstone miners, plus a row of larger cottages for his supervisors and surveyors. In 1872, he purchased the whole village off Armitage, although by then the cottages no longer housed ironstone miners but workers employed on his estate (and a few jet miners). As for the Bousdale brickworks, buildings were still mapped on the site in the 1950s but nature has taken back control. The woodland floor is littered with moss covered broken bricks and rubble. An old stone building is the obvious feature which has been adapted as a sheltered rest area. The brickworks are now part of a fitness course for the Pinchinthorp Visitor Centre. For sources and references see my blog: Out and about ... (2021). Bousdale Brickworks. [online] Available at: Link [Accessed 12 Dec. 2021].

A ‘Brick Field’ is shown on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1853). It is thought to have been set up to provide bricks for the construction of the houses at Hutton village, which must be the row of ten cottages called ‘Wat’s Lane’ that were located south of the later school site (now a private residence). You will need to compare the 1856 map with the 1895 one to appreciate how much has changed in this area. Courtesy of Joseph Pease when he built his Hutton Hall. Wat’s Lane was built just before 1853 by Henry Thomas, the owner of Codhill Farm but they were soon leased to Pease. The 1861 census records 52 folks living there and none ten years later. Pease also leased land from Thomas called Bank Bottom Close (the site of the modern Hutton village) but agreed the latter could build houses on it. I’m not sure exactly how Pease would have benefitted from this. In 1855, the land was sold to Matthew Armitage of Darlington (again presumably with Pease’s agreement) to build 12 cottages again using bricks from the Bousdale brickworks. Pease was soon leasing the houses from Armitage and built another nine or ten cottages for his ironstone miners, plus a row of larger cottages for his supervisors and surveyors. In 1872, he purchased the whole village off Armitage, although by then the cottages no longer housed ironstone miners but workers employed on his estate (and a few jet miners). As for the Bousdale brickworks, buildings were still mapped on the site in the 1950s but nature has taken back control. The woodland floor is littered with moss covered broken bricks and rubble. An old stone building is the obvious feature which has been adapted as a sheltered rest area. The brickworks are now part of a fitness course for the Pinchinthorp Visitor Centre. For sources and references see my blog: Out and about ... (2021). Bousdale Brickworks. [online] Available at: Link [Accessed 12 Dec. 2021].

A ‘Brick Field’ is shown on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1853). It is thought to have been set up to provide bricks for the construction of the houses at Hutton village, which must be the row of ten cottages called ‘Wat’s Lane’ that were located south of the later school site (now a private residence). You will need to compare the 1856 map with the 1895 one to appreciate how much has changed in this area. Courtesy of Joseph Pease when he built his Hutton Hall. Wat’s Lane was built just before 1853 by Henry Thomas, the owner of Codhill Farm but they were soon leased to Pease. The 1861 census records 52 folks living there and none ten years later. Pease also leased land from Thomas called Bank Bottom Close (the site of the modern Hutton village) but agreed the latter could build houses on it. I’m not sure exactly how Pease would have benefitted from this. In 1855, the land was sold to Matthew Armitage of Darlington (again presumably with Pease’s agreement) to build 12 cottages again using bricks from the Bousdale brickworks. Pease was soon leasing the houses from Armitage and built another nine or ten cottages for his ironstone miners, plus a row of larger cottages for his supervisors and surveyors. In 1872, he purchased the whole village off Armitage, although by then the cottages no longer housed ironstone miners but workers employed on his estate (and a few jet miners). As for the Bousdale brickworks, buildings were still mapped on the site in the 1950s but nature has taken back control. The woodland floor is littered with moss covered broken bricks and rubble. An old stone building is the obvious feature which has been adapted as a sheltered rest area. The brickworks are now part of a fitness course for the Pinchinthorp Visitor Centre. For sources and references see my blog: Out and about ... (2021). Bousdale Brickworks. [online] Available at: Link [Accessed 12 Dec. 2021].

A collection of photographs taken around midday by Geographers from all over Britain and Ireland. See all the images on the map: Link

The Domesday Book records two manors in Pinchinthorpe. The eastern half, centred on the modern Pinchinthorpe House (but not as far as the Pinchinthorpe Visitor Centre) and the western half comprising Pinchinthorpe Hall. The photo shows almost the full extent of the western half. Bottom left, partially hidden by trees is Pinchinthorpe Hall. The farm on the right is High Farm. The two farms in the right distance are Spite Hall Farm and Low Farm, also part of the manor. It’s a long narrow manor, I am actually standing on the south-eastern tip. The fields north of the A173 between the hall and High Farm contain lots of humps and bumps, the site of the medieval hamlet. The name itself, Pinchinthorpe, comes from the Norman family of ‘Pinchum’, the 12th-century holders of the manor. The most interesting building through is Pinchinthorpe Hall, a 17th-century house which stands in moated grounds. The moated site and post medieval gardens are currently on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register as “generally unsatisfactory with major localised problems”. The risk seems to be from gardening. The hall itself has recently been reopened as a hospitality venue. For over 400 years the manor was in the hands of the Catholic Lee family. The family seems to have avoided holding positions of public office and this may have been because of their recusancy. Main source: Dixon, Grace. “Two Ancient Townships – Studies of Pinchinthorpe and Hutton Lowcross”. 1991. ISBN 0 9507827 2 6. For sources and references see my blog Link

When we look at a landscape photo it is very easy to be overwhelmed by the big picture and to miss the little features. In centuries past, these features meant something, far more than now, and they had names. It is these features that reveal interesting aspects of the landscape. The distinctive change in steepness of the north-western face of Roseberry is clearly visible from the Cleveland Plain. This is a shot along the slope. Newton-under-Roseberry is the village extreme right. And the edge on left is Cockle Scar, a name which I think most people climbing Roseberry will not be familiar with, anxious to achieve the summit. Climb the wooden steps then the diagonal path through Newton Wood and when you get to the gate you will have crested Cockle Scar. It’s about at the 200m contour level. The scar is formed from a seam of rock called the Staithes Sandstone Formation, which is more resistant to erosion than Redcar Mudstone Formation below it. When the last ice age ice sheets swept along the Cleveland Plain from the north-west, the softer mudstone was more readily eroded leaving the edge. Staithes sandstone is thinly bedded therefore not used much for building, and so not quarried. Unlike the ‘cap’ of Roseberry which is a different sandstone, the Saltwick Sandstone Formation. Cockle Scar is not named on the modern Tourist O.S. Maps. I haven’t come across many modern references. The 2006 book “Roseberry Topping” is one, issued by the Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project. Early last century, SirAlfred Pease (1857-1939) mentioned the feature in his memoires. Is there a danger of it being lost? For sources and references see my blog Link

Distinctive cone shaped summit of just over 1,000 feet above sea level, set slightly adrift of the Cleveland Hills proper. Seen here from the village of Newton, at the western foot of the hill. A spur from the Cleveland Way gives the National Trail walkers access to the top from the east.

Dedicated to the Northumbrian King Oswald. Parts of the church are of Norman origin, but extensively re-constructed in Victorian times. Grade II Listed Building

Hostelry on the main A173, near Great Ayton

Built into the fabric of St. Oswald’s Church suggesting the existence of a much earlier church.

Parish Boundary Marker in the hedge on the east side of the A173 between Pinchinthorpe Hall and Newton under Roseberry. On the former boundary of Pinchinthorpe and Newton parishes but entirely in Guisborough parish since 1974. No inscription visible. Grade II Listed details Link. Milestone Society National ID: YN_PINNEW01pb

Looking east towards Highcliff Nab.

An old Boundary marker stone on the Cleveland Way on Newton Moor, this is one of a pair of stones. Inscription reads: T / HR / GA / 2?? Unsure of what was below the GA other than a 2, perhaps a date originally? Close up view of Inscription and wider view of both stones can be seen at the links below. NZ5912 : Old Boundary Stone - Cleveland Way - Newton Moor (2) NZ5912 : Old Boundary Stone - Cleveland Way - Newton Moor (3)

An old Boundary marker stone on the Cleveland Way on Newton Moor, this is one of a pair of stones. Inscription reads: T / HR / GA / 2?? Unsure of what was below the GA other than a 2, perhaps a date originally? Full view of marker and a wider view of both stones can be seen at the links below. NZ5912 : Old Boundary Stone - Cleveland Way - Newton Moor (1) NZ5912 : Old Boundary Stone - Cleveland Way - Newton Moor (3)