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John Walker’s Walk #6 Billingham History walk
Start at Billingham Beck Valley Country Park Car Park.
A brief history of Billingham
Billingham has an Anglo-Saxon name that was once thought to mean ‘the homestead of Billa’s people’ but is now thought to come from the location of the old village on a ‘billing’ – the bill- shaped hill on which it stands.
In the seventh century Billingham had been part of the Saxon district called Heortness which stretched from the River Tees to Castle Eden, but later, around the 9th century, a separate district called Billingamshire was established.
It was about the year 900 AD that Billingham and its shire was given by the Bishop of Chester-Le- Street to a nobleman called Elfred who had sought refuge in the North East at a time when his native North West was being invaded by the Vikings.
From the late Anglo-Saxon period Billingham belonged to the followers of St Cuthbert until it was captured by the Irish-Norse leader King Ragnald of Dublin in the tenth century A.D.
Ragnald gave Billingham along with other lands in the vicinity of the north Tees vale to one of his men, an Irish-Viking knight called Scula or Scule who was probably encouraged to exercise patronage in favour of his own people. Scula’s new territory stretched from the Tees to Castle Eden Dene and possibly included School Aycliffe to the north of Darlington, which means Scula’s Aycliffe.
There are a small number of Viking placenames in the Billingham and Stockton area, notably those beginning with Thorpe, such as Thorpe Thewles which means the ‘farm of the immoral’.
The local term ‘beck’ used for streams in the area is of Viking origin though the Billingham area also has a stream called the North Burn – burn being a word of Anglo-Saxon origin that is used today by the Scots and Northumbrians.
In the nineteenth century Billingham was still a tiny village and was even smaller than the village of Norton, to the west, from which its lands were separated by the Lustrum Beck and a mill race. To the north of Billingham across the countryside to the north was Wolviston, a village that was then much larger than Billingham but now just falls short of being physically absorbed by the town of Billingham today.
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The walk starts by leaving the car park via the car entrance and crossing the A1027 and turning right. Take the footpath along the side of the road towards the A19 until you come to a gated vehicle entrance with pedestrian gate alongside it on the left. Through the gate you enter the north west corner of the south side of the Billingham Beck Valley Country Park.
Billingham Beck Valley Country Park
Botanist David Bellamy opened Billingham Beck Valley Country Park in July 1991 on the site of what had become a mounting sea of rubbish known as Stephenson's Tip. People living near the site had threatened to report the former Cleveland County Council to the regional Ombusdman, but it was the local authority which began a three-year plan to transform the site into an ecology park, winning an award from the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Birds such as kingfishers and wagtails can be spotted along the beck, while the wetland habitats attract species such as snipe, sedge warbler, coot and moorhen. The low-lying wet grasslands are a real delight in summer, with a diverse range of grasses and wild flowers, and butterflies such as the meadow brown, common blue and dingy skipper.
Designated as a Local Nature Reserve in 1992, this valuable pocket of countryside has been preserved as a haven for wildlife and a place where people can explore, enjoy and learn about the countryside.
The Ranger Service at Billingham Beck Valley Country Park lead themed school groups including pond dipping and mini beasting, habitats and how plants and animals live.
Other regular activities include a range of practical conservation work and environmental monitoring of flora and fauna across the site with the resident wildlife expert.
Follow the main footpath, turning left at the information sign and following the path which meanders through keeping Billingham Beck to your left. Cross a small bridge and then climb the footpath to your right bringing you out on to Bypass Road (The old A19) at the south east corner of the park.
Turn left out of the gateway and walk for a short distance before crossing Bypass Road and turning right into Chapel Road. After about 50 metres turn right taking the footpath in front of the bungalows. At the far end of the row of bungalows go straight ahead into the footpath which borders the western edge of St Cuthbert’s Church.
Go through the gateway to your left into the grounds of St Cuthbert’s Church and follow the path straight ahead of you.
St Cuthbert’s Church.
Billingham church, dedicated to St Cuthbert, is one of Billingham’s biggest surprises with a Saxon tower dating to 1000AD though some other parts of the church including parts of the nave are
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older, dating to the 7th or early 8th century. Modern extensions of the church date to the Victorian era and late 1930s.
The wooden coffin
CUTHBERT died on March 20, 687, aged about 52, probably of tuberculosis, and was buried in Lindisfarne Priory. Eleven years to the day later, the coffin was reopened, and to the surprise of the monks, his body was intact. This miracle started the cult of Cuthbert, and he was transferred into a coffin hastily made of oak, and covered in carvings of saints, apostles and archangels. The carvings are the earliest outside Rome to show Christ.
It was in the coffin that the monks carried Cuthbert’s body as they toured the region from 875. The story suggests that they were fleeing invading Vikings, or it could just be that they were taking Cuthbert on a massive PR trip to meet-and-greet as many living people as possible to cement his position as their saint.
The tour took in the Lake District and possibly as far south as Doncaster. The Tees Valley was very receptive and where the coffin rested, a church dedicated to Cuthbert was created.
From 995, Cuthbert settled in Durham and in 1104 the wooden coffin was placed inside a new coffin and lowered into his shrine in the new cathedral.
Walking through the grounds you’ll come to the lychgate at the eastern ends of the grounds leading you to Billingham Green – to your left are some of the oldest the houses in the original Billingham. As you pass under the lychgate, directly in front of you across the road is Billingham Village Cross.
Billingham Village Cross
The Village Cross was erected in 1893 at a cost of £44.12.0d. It weighs 19 cwt and is made of shap granite.
Rev. Philip Rudd, vicar of St. Cuthbert’s Church persuaded the villagers and local gentry that every village should have a cross marker and so a cross was commissioned. Designed by Middlesbrough architect Mr Bottomley who received 2 guineas for his service, the cross was erected on Billingham Green by Bowron’s stone and marble masons based on Yarm Lane, Stockton in 1893.
The story goes that the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was to unveil the cross as he passed through the village on his way to Wynyard Hall. Crowds of people dressed in their Sunday best and waving flags turned up to watch the unveiling ceremony of their new Village Cross. The carriage procession swept through the village, and cheers could be heard as the Prince waved to the patriotic crowd. Unfortunately, the carriage continued onto Wynyard without stopping – no one had actually informed the Prince of his Royal engagement!
The new cross replaced a decaying old oak cross which was said to mark the place where Cromwell’s men positioned and fired a cannon at St. Cuthbert’s Church, damaging the chancel.
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Cross West Road to look at Billingham Village Cross then turn left walking along West Road which skirts Billingham Green.
Just past the more modern houses and opposite The Smiths Arms bear right along the footpath to the right of the large tree. This will follow on to a footpath across a green through Bullgarth park.
Can you find our John Walker metal tin? If you have the ‘What3words’ app search for ‘soccer.tiger.start’ to find the location. If not, look to the left behind a tree, you may find it stuck to the fence!
If you find the tin, make sure you log your name and the date you found it. Read the poem and perhaps – inspired by the walk, think of ways you could contribute.
Continue the walk through Bullgarth park and under the archway through the houses into Weardale Crescent.
Chemical Industry
In 1917 Billingham was chosen as the site for the production of synthetic ammonia to be used in the manufacture of explosives.
A site of several hundred acres at Grange Farm in Billingham was picked to be the site of the new chemical works. The First World War ended before the Billingham Chemical plant could be completed, and the new works were taken over by Brunner Mond in 1920.
The new company adapted the production of synthetic ammonia to the manufacture of fertilisers.
In 1926 Brunner Mond and Britain's other major chemical manufacturers merged to form Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI).
This spurred on the further development of Billingham, and by 1932 the works employed 5,000 workers out of a population of 18,000.
Building of houses for ICI staff.
As early on as July 1920 the Synthetic bought houses for its staff. Houses built by the Synthetic had electricity, gas and even gardens. By June 1922, 24 semi-detached homes were built for staff and foreman in Mill Lane. By the 1950’s the company owned 1,700 houses in the Billingham area, these were let to employees at low rentals. Rent would be taken out the men’s wages. It wasn’t until the late 1950’s that ICI started selling off some of its homes to its tenants. Management colonies were also built and were nice detached homes. They were built to attract the high quality of management that the Synthetic wanted. The housing situation was difficult and there were, even in the 1950’s, several hundred on the waiting list. Only a few vacancies came up a year. Applications were accepted only from married men!
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Turn left onto Weardale Crescent and follow the road straight ahead crossing Central Avenue and into Stokesley Crescent.
Take your second left from Stokesley Crescent into Teesdale Avenue and then immediately right into Kildale Road. This will bring you to the quiet and secluded Lundale Road, a road of prefabricated houses built as a temporary measure to solve the housing shortages after World War 2.
Prefabs
‘Prefabs’ were temporary homes built in the factory at the close of the Second World War.
They were built to rehouse those who had lost their homes during the Blitz or servicemen coming back from the war and their young families. More than 156,000. In 1942, Churchill’s government had created the Burt Committee named after Sir George Burt. Its aim was to come up with a quick, efficient and modern answer to the looming housing crisis.
They came up with a sort-of ideal floor plan of a one-storey bungalow with two bedrooms, inside toilets, a fitted kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. The prefabs would be detached houses, surrounded by a garden to encourage dwellers to grow fruit and vegetables and would have a coal shed. The Temporary Housing Programme was born.
The public was impressed. A lot of people who lived in big cities like London, which had been heavily bombed, were used to living in shared flats or houses with toilets outside and no hot water. Suddenly they discovered little houses with all the mod cons, which also enjoyed a lot of light and offered the possibility to have a garden all around. Young families mainly coming from working-class backgrounds would have the opportunity to live in a detached house, with a fitted kitchen with a fridge!
The kitchen and heating system were actually a piece of brilliant engineering: the kitchen and the bathroom came in one piece with a wall in between, which contained the piping for both rooms. Some prefabs had flat roofs, an architectural style people were not used to, and some had wrap- around corner windows that allowed the living room to enjoy as much light as possible.
Not only was the inside design well considered, the way they were erected was clever too. While some were only filling in bomb sites between traditional houses, most of the 156,000 prefabs were laid out on estates, some reaching more than 1,200 units like Belle Vale in Liverpool. The prefab estates had foot paths and greens and children could play outside –– most people knew each other so everyone felt safe and cared for.
The Temporary Housing Programme worked as a social scheme. Priority was given to families with young children or to servicemen and their families, creating strong communities. Most people were from the same generation, with working-class backgrounds, raising young children. They were all starting afresh with exactly the same type of house. No wonder then that the prefabs lasted many more years than they were supposed to. Many people still live in prefabs today, some 70 years after they were built with a supposed lifetime of just 10.
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A way to save them was to buy them through the Right to Buy scheme. From the 1990s, architects and urbanists started to recognise the historic value of prefabs. Historic England – then English Heritage – started to list some that were best preserved. Today 17 are listed in Birmingham and six in Catford, South London.
Some museums also started to look at prefabs as valuable and interesting pieces for their collections. There are six museums in the UK where you can see a prefab: a Tarran type at the Eden Camp in Yorkshire, an Arcon MK 5 at the Avoncroft Museum in Bromsgrove, another Arcon MK 5 at the Rural Life Centre in Farnham, a Universal at the Chiltern Air Museum, an AIROH at the Wales Museum in Cardiff and a Uni-Seco at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.
Turn left into Lunedale Road and follow the footpath ahead of you bringing you out on to Station Road.
Turning right onto Station Road you’ll be faced with the new automated railway crossing, constructed in 2021. This is now the Stockton to Hartlepool railway but originally part of The Clarences Railway.
Clarences Railway
The Clarence Railway was an early railway company that operated in north-east England between 1833 and 1853. The railway was built to take coal from mines in County Durham to ports on the River Tees and was a competitor to the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). The line to Hartlepool was added some 10 years later and branches from this line approximately ¼ mile to the east of this level crossing.
Passing the Station Hotel on your right continue to the traffic light-controlled crossroads and cross straight ahead into Sandy Lane. Take your first left into St Aiden’s Crescent and at the end of the road turn right and go through the gate slightly to your left.
Walk down the hill towards Thorpe Beck, but before you reach it take the footpath to your left.
This footpath is overgrown and has a steep drop in places to the beck. Follow this footpath alongside the beck and then as it turns right to cross the beck and follow the path of the railway line.
At the end of this path turn left and climb the steps to cross the main railway. PLEASE BE AWARE THIS RAILWAY LINE IS IN USE.
After crossing the railway, descend the steps known locally as ‘The 99 Steps’ and this will bring you back into the north west corner of Billingham Ecology Park.
After descending to the bottom of the steps take the footpath straight ahead and then to your left which will take you through the Billingham Beck Country Park, over the footbridge near the confluence of Thorpe Beck and Billingham Beck. At the end turn right, follow the path and turn right again passing the ecology pond and back to the car park.