Saltburn

The town of Saltburn as it is today was founded in the 1860s by the Darlington entrepreneur Henry Pease. However the history of the area goes back much further with the discovery of a stone axe head on Saltburn Sands, suggesting that a settlement may have existed in the area since the Neolithic period. Other evidence of early settlements around the Saltburn area include the discovery of at least 3 cremation vessels and a Bronze Age burial mound at Cat Nab and an Iron Age grinding stone or quern on Huntcliff. All of this evidence supports the theory that settlements have existed in what is now Saltburn, for much of Britain’s early history.

By the time of the Roman Invasion of Britain in 43 AD some form of settlement could have existed in Saltburn for several thousand years. The Romans ruled Britain for nearly 400 years but by the 5th Century AD their rule was challenged by Saxon invaders from Germanic Europe. As a means of defence against these invasions the Romans built signal stations along the east coast, the most northerly known one being on Huntcliff at Saltburn. Saltburn’s signal station has long since disappeared but evidence of it’s existence remains in the form of a Roman ring and brooch discovered in 1911 along with the signal station’s well.

The name Saltburn first appears following the Anglo-Saxon invasion and is derived from the Saxon name for the local stream,

Sealt-Burna, or salty stream. 300 years later the invading Vikings changed the name of the stream to the Skelton Beck, but the name of the settlement remained, giving its name to the modern town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

Saltburn’s history continues throughout the medieval period with medieval field systems being discovered just outside of modern Saltburn, a shepherd’s house between modern Saltburn and Brotton, examples of late medieval pottery and documentary remains of a small hermitage just east of Skelton Beck.

The origins of the current town go back to the late 18th Century and the settlement of Old Saltburn, consisting of a couple of small cottages and what is now the Ship Inn. This small village, along with other coastal towns such as Staithes and Marske became a safe haven for smugglers during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.

Smuggling was an accepted way of life among the local people, with many of the smugglers being accepted among the local elite and often serving in the corrupt local law enforcement organisations. Even after the heyday of smuggling had passed, the village of Old Saltburn remained a seafaring community, with most of the residents earning a living as sailors and fishermen. This nautical tradition is reflected in the building of a small mortuary in the 1880s in order to house the bodies of sailors frequently washed up on the beach.

The Victorian settlement that now makes up the centre of modern Saltburn was founded in 1861 as a holiday resort by Henry Pease of Darlington who, while walking along the beach from Marske to Saltburn envisaged a “heavenly” town arise from the cliffs above Old Saltburn, reminiscent of the description of Jerusalem in the Book of Revelations.

Pease immediately set about planning and building what would become Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Within the first 20 years of building most of the heart of modern day Saltburn was completed including the pier, valley gardens and cliff hoist, all built as part of the luxurious holiday resort envisaged by Pease. At the centre of the town stood the Zetland Hotel, built with the intention of attracting high profile visitors and believed to be the first purpose built railway hotel with its own private station.

After the death of Henry Pease, apart from modern housing developments, no substantial new features were added to the town and as a result of this the town remains a relatively unspoiled example of a Victorian seaside town.

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