Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town and unitary authority of North Yorkshire, located in North East England. Situated on the southern bank of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Borough of Middlesbrough, the Teesside built-up area and the Tees Valley. The town is governed by the Middlesbrough Council unitary authority, which is divided into twenty wards, as part of the Tees Valley Combined Authority along with Darlington, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees. In 2021, it had a population of 148,215.
There was a priory at the site from 686 until 1537, but no urban settlement until Joseph Pease selected it as the site for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1829. After this, it rapidly grew into a major centre of iron production. By the mid-1870s, it produced one third of the United Kingdom's pig iron output and was known as Ironopolis. Steel production, ship building, and the chemical industry were also major industries. Since World War II, these industries have declined in major fashion, but Teesport and the Wilton International industrial site remain major employers.
History
Medieval period Middlesbrough started as a Benedictine priory on the south bank of the river Tees; its name was possibly derived from it being midway between the holy sites of Durham and Whitby. The earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name is "Mydilsburgh". Some believe the name means 'middle fortress', since it was midway between the two religious houses of Durham and Whitby; others state that it is an Old English personal name (Midele or Myhailf) combined with burgh, meaning town.
In 686, a monastic cell was consecrated by St Cuthbert at the request of St Hilda, Abbess of Whitby. The cell evolved into Middlesbrough Priory. The manor of Middlesburgh belonged to Whitby Abbey and Gisborough Priory. Robert Bruce, Lord of Cleveland and Annandale, granted and confirmed, in 1119, the church of St. Hilda of Middleburg to Whitby. Up until its closure on the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in 1537, the church was maintained by 12 Benedictine monks, many of whom became vicars, or rectors, of various places in Cleveland.
After settlement by the Angles, the area became home to Viking settlers. Names of Viking origin (with the suffix , meaning village) are abundant; for example, Ormesby, Stainsby and Tollesby. These were once separate villages named after Vikings called Orm, Steinn and Toll; they are now areas of Middlesbrough that were recorded in Domesday Book, of 1086.
Port development In 1801, Middlesbrough was a small farming township with a population of just 25. From 1829 onwards, it experienced rapid growth. In 1828, the influential Quaker banker, coal-mine owner and Stockton and Darlington Railway shareholder Joseph Pease sailed up the River Tees to find a suitable new site downriver of Stockton on which to place new coal staithes. As a result, in 1829, he and a group of Quaker businessmen bought the Middlesbrough farmstead and associated estate, some of land and established the Middlesbrough Estate Company.
Through the company, the investors set about a new coal port development (designed by John Harris) on the southern banks of the Tees. The first coal shipping staithes at the port (known as "Port Darlington") were constructed with a settlement to the east established on the site of Middlesbrough farm as labour for the port, taking on the farm's name as it developed into a village.
The port was linked to the S&DR on 27 December 1830 via a branch that extended to an area just north of the current Middlesbrough railway station.
The success of the port meant it soon became overwhelmed by the volume of imports and exports; in 1839, work started on a dock to the east of Middlesbrough. The first water for the dock was let in on 19 March 1842, while the formal opening took place on 12 May 1842.
Victorian era
Iron dominated the Tees area since 1841, when Henry Bolckow in partnership with John Vaughan, founded the Vulcan iron foundry and rolling mill. Vaughan introduced the new 'Bell Hopper' system of closed blast furnaces developed at the Ebbw Vale works. The new system and nearby abundant supply of Ironstone in the Eston Hills in 1850, made the works a success with the area becoming known as the "Iron-smelting centre of the world" and Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd the largest company in existence at the time.Institution of Civil Engineers, Obituary, 1869.
Middlesbrough's population grew quickly from 40 people in 1829 to 7,600 by 1851. Pig iron production rose tenfold between 1851 and 1856 and, by the mid-1870s, Middlesbrough was producing one third of the nation's pig iron output. During this time, the town earned the nickname Ironopolis.
On 21 January 1853, Middlesbrough received its Royal Charter of Incorporation, giving the town the right to have a mayor, aldermen and councillors. Henry Bolckow became mayor, in 1853.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Old Middlesbrough was starting to decline and was overshadowed by developments built around the new town hall, south of the original town hall.Woodhouse, Robert. Middlesbrough – A Pictorial History. (Phillimore & Co. Ltd. Publishing, 1990. ). illustration no. 48.
On 15 August 1867, a Reform Bill was passed, making Middlesbrough a new parliamentary borough; Bolckow was elected member for Middlesbrough the following year.
The town's rapid expansion continued throughout the second half of the 19th century, fuelled by the iron and steel industry, and the population reached 90,000 by the dawn of the 20th century.
Second World War Middlesbrough was the first major British town and industrial target to be bombed during the Second World War, although the official date of the Blitz is a few months later. The steel-making capacity and railways for carrying steel products were obvious targets. The Luftwaffe first bombed the town on 25 May 1940, when a lone bomber dropped 13 bombs between South Bank Road and the South Steel plant. More bombing occurred throughout the course of the war, with the railway station put out of action for two weeks in 1942.
By the end of the war, more than 200 buildings had been damaged or destroyed in the Middlesbrough area. Areas of early- and mid-Victorian housing were demolished and much of central Middlesbrough was redeveloped. Heavy industry was relocated to areas of land better suited to the needs of modern technology. Middlesbrough itself began to take on a completely different look.
Post-war development
The transition from post-war industrial to modern non-industrial Middlesbrough changed the town; many buildings were replaced and roads built. The A66 road was built through the town in the 1980s and the Royal Exchange was demolished to make way for it.
Middlesbrough F.C.'s modern Riverside Stadium opened on 26 August 1995, next to Middlesbrough Dock. The club moved from Ayresome Park, which had been its home for 92 years.
The original St Hilda's area of Middlesbrough, after decades of decline and clearance, was given the new name of Middlehaven, in 1986, on investment proposals to build on the land. Middlehaven has since had new buildings built there including Middlesbrough College and the Riverside Stadium amongst others. Also situated at Middlehaven is the Boho zone, offering office space to the area's business, to attract new companies and also Bohouse housing. Some of the street names from the original grid-iron street plan of the town still exist in the area today.
The expansion of Middlesbrough southwards, eastwards and westwards continued throughout the 20th century, absorbing villages such as Linthorpe, Acklam, Ormesby, Marton and Nunthorpe; it continues to the present day.
Governance National representation Middlesbrough is represented in the UK Parliament by two MPs from the following constituencies: Middlesbrough and Thornaby East by Andy McDonald for Labour. He was elected in a by-election held on 29 November 2012, following the death of Sir Stuart Bell, who had been the MP since 1983 Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland by Luke Myer (Labour), who replaced Simon Clarke of the Conservative party in 2024.
Local government
The local authority is Middlesbrough Council, a unitary authority. Middlesbrough also forms part of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 election.
Political control of the council since it was re-established in 1974 has been as follows:
Non-metropolitan district Party in controlYears 1974–1996
Unitary authority Party in controlYears 1996–2019 2019–2023 2023–present
Since 2002, political leadership on the council has been provided by the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough. Prior to 2002, the council was led by a leader of the council and the mayor had a more ceremonial role. The leaders from 1981 to 2002 were: Councillor Party From To Walter Ferrier 1981 1983 Michael Carr 1983 1995 Ken Walker 1995 5 May 2002
The directly elected mayors since 2002 have been: Mayor Party From To Ray Mallon 6 May 2002 10 May 2015 Dave Budd 11 May 2015 5 May 2019 Andy Preston 6 May 2019 7 May 2023 Chris Cooke 8 May 2023
Administrative history Middlesbrough was historically a township in the civil parish of West Acklam, in the Langbaurgh Wapentake of Yorkshire. Despite having no church building, a perpetual curacy of Middlesbrough was created in 1744, also covering the neighbouring township of Linthorpe; the curacy of Middlesbrough gradually came to be treated as a civil parish.
After construction of the modern town began in 1830, there was a need for more urban forms of local government. In 1841, a body of improvement commissioners was set up covering the township of Middlesbrough and part of the township of Linthorpe. The commissioners were superseded in 1853, when the same area was made a municipal borough. The borough boundaries were extended in 1858, 1866 and 1887.Middlesbrough Improvement Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 140)Middlesbrough Extension and Improvement Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 143) When elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, Middlesbrough became a county borough. It was then independent from the new North Riding County Council, whilst remaining part of the North Riding of Yorkshire for ceremonial purposes.
By this time, the borough covered the civil parish of Middlesbrough and parts of the parishes of Linthorpe (where the old township had been made a separate parish in 1866), Marton and West Acklam. The Local Government Act 1894 said that parishes could no longer straddle borough boundaries and so the parish of Middlesbrough was enlarged to cover the whole borough.
The borough was further enlarged in 1913, taking in the rest of Linthorpe and the North Ormesby area from the parish of Ormesby. In 1932, it gained West Acklam and smaller parts from other parishes when the Middlesbrough Rural District was abolished.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Middlesbrough was affected by three reforms in: 1968, Middlesbrough became part of the Teesside County Borough 1974, it became the county town of the Cleveland non-metropolitan county until its abolition 1996, the Borough of Middlesbrough became a unitary authority of North Yorkshire.
In 2011, a local enterprise partnership was formed from the former Cleveland boroughs and the Borough of Darlington called Tees Valley. In 2016, the area appointed a combined authority mayor.
Geography Areas
The following 20 wards comprise the Middlesbrough built-up area:
Acklam Ayresome (also includes Whinney Banks) Berwick Hills and Pallister Brambles and Thorntree Central Coulby Newham Hemlington Kader Ladgate (Easterside, Saltersgill and Tollesby) Linthorpe Longlands and Beechwood Marton East Marton West Newport North Ormesby Nunthorpe Park (includes Albert Park) Park End and Beckfield (includes Netherfields)