Middlesbrough
Geography
Much of Middlesbrough is re-claimed marshland. The River Tees which literally means 'boiling river' in Celtic (a reference to its red colouration due to iron ore deposits); divides the valley in two. Historically the river formed a natural boundary between different peoples.
Recently, the River Tees was the border between Durham and Yorkshire and in the past it has formed a boundary between: Vikings & Saxons; Normans & the land of the Prince Bishops; and Scots & English.
Before 1829, what is now Middlesbrough centre was no more than a small hill, rising from the river and surrounding marsh. The major settlements were the villages on the edge of the marsh at Marton (literally 'Marsh-Town'), Ormesby and Eston.
Bronze-Age
The area has been inhabited from early times. Eston Nab (hill overlooking the town) was the point of a Bronze-Age fortress. The fortification pre-dates the Celts and many of the other ancient hill-forts throughout Britain. We are unsure what these ancient people were defending themselves against; however the location and construction of the fort represents a formidable defensive system.
The hilltop area is also littered with ancient burial mounds. The people who constructed the fort where part of the same pre-Celtic group who built the various stone-circles such as Stonehenge and the one at Commondale in North Yorkshire.
Briganti-land
During Celtic times the area came under the control of the Briganti tribe. The Brigantis were the largest Celtic kingdom extending from east coast to west coast and from Galloway in Scotland to the River Mersey.
Unlike the other tribes who fiercely resisted the Roman conquest the Brigantis collaborated. Queen Cartimandua their ruler went as far as handing over Caractacus one of the resistance leaders. The Brigantis saw Cartimandua as the living personification of the Goddess Briganta and as such she had ultimate rule. Things didn't go to plan however when she divorced her Roman hating husband Venutius. Venutius rebelled forcing her out of the north.
The Queen appealed to the Romans who dutifully came to the rescue, crushing her Kingdom in the process. Varutius, held-out for a while at the Stanwick hillfort near Darlington. During the Roman conquest, Stanwick was the largest and most formidable fort in the country.
350 years after the initial conquest, the Romans abandoned everything north of the Tees and the new Celtic kingdom of Catraeth was formed. The kingdom was at the mercy of invading Saxons and Scots.
The Saxons
The Saxons soon conquered Catraeth and the area south of the Tees, creating the Kingdom of Northumbria. The area to the north of the Tees was called Bernicia and the area to the south, Deira. During Saxon times the village of Kaldecotes was formed near Middlesbrough centre. Kaldecotes means 'Cold-Shelter Cottages' and was a place for fishermen and travellers to shelter from the winter weather. Over time the name Kaldecotes somehow became corrupted to 'Cargo Fleet.' The area is now the site of heavy industry.
Middlesbrough is first mentioned during this time under the name 'Mydilsburgh.' The hill had been a Christian site since as early as the first century and during Saxon times it was the site of a wooden church. A 'Burgh' was a hill and 'Mydil' meant middle; a possible reference to the site's middle location between the Christian sites of Durham and Whitby.
The new Saxon kingdom experienced a massive Revival under the Iona missionary Aidan. Northumbria became a Christian kingdom for many centuries to come with its main centres at Lindisfarne, Durham, Monkwearmouth, Jarrow and Whitby.
The church at Middlesbrough was erected in 689AD and allegedly dedicated by Saint Cuthbert himself. The land came into church hands after King Oswy dedicated his infant daughter Princess Elfleda to God on the eve battle with the pagan King Penda. Middlesbrough was part of dower payment for his daughter. The church and priory continued until was dissolved by Henry VIII.
Viking Raiders
The Vikings were the next people to leave their mark on Middlesbrough. The new invaders were pagan in belief and raided many of the Christian centres, most famously burning down Whitby Abbey. Raids soon turned to Settlement and the area south of the Tees became part of the Viking Kingdom of Jorvik (York). The valleys along the south of the river and extending into North Yorkshire have an extremely high concentration of Viking place names.
It is during this time we hear the first reference to Cleveland. In Norse it meant 'Cliffland' and was a reference to the rolling hills (cliff did not mean a steep rock-face as it does today). The Viking area of Cleveland stretched from the Tees down the coast to Whitby, (not including anything north of the Tees).
The new arrivals created a spiritual divide with North of the Tees being the Christian Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria and South of the Tees being the Pagan Viking Kingdom of Kingdom of Jorvik. The Vikings themselves later became Christian.
Norman Invasion
The Norman conquest started in 1066 with William soon being crowned King over all of England. Rebellions in the north led William to brutally crush the local population.
During Norman times, the Bishop of Durham become a puppet King ruling north of the Tees independently from London. In respect to the Prince Bishops William left everything north of the tees out of the Domesday-Book. The Middlesbrough area was given to the De Brus family who administered it from Guisborough (ancestors of Robert De Brus of Scotland).