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History

Durham Heritage Coast has a unique history within County Durham as the sea will have influenced much of the early settlement as most movement will have been by boat prior to the road and car.

Early History

Recent finds of flint tools and a fire place (hearth) from the Old Stone Age (Mesolithic 8000 - 4000 B.C.) and New Stone Age (Neolithic 4000 - 2000 B.C.) show that people were living and working in the area. Burial mounds between Seaham and Peterlee and food vessels again show that people were living and being buried in the area during the Bronze Age (2000 - 750 B.C.). Nothing has been found from the Iron Age (750 B.C. - 75 A.D.) in this area but have been found at other sites along the coast in the region.

Roman (75 - 400 A.D.)

There is nothing definite but coins and a brooch have been found at Seaton. Throughout the rest of County Durham there are a number of Roman forts and it is likely that a signal station would be found on the coast. Beacon Hill is a likely place.

Medieval

A number of the churches in the area show Medieval beginnings. Burials found at Seaham between St. Mary's church have been dated from the 6th - 8th Century and the number suggests that this may have had a monastery attached to it.

In a few fields rigg and furrow (ridge and furrow) can still be seen. The plough is only a recent tool and before that the ard was used to plough fields. This could only turn the soil in one direction so when the horses/oxen walk up the field the soil was turned and when the horse/ox come back down the field the soil was turned onto the previous soil. This built up the ridge (rigg).

Recent Industrial Past

Lime

Lime was found to improve the crops grown. Limekilns were built either near the fields that were using it or on a more commercial level. The limestone was burnt and spread on the fields.

At Seaham Harbour several large kilns were used, possibly to export lime or to help in the building of the harbour walls.

Coal

It was difficult to mine the the coal because it was below the Magnesian Limestone but in the 1830s mines started to appear and houses were needed for the people employed in the mines and many new settlements were created with rows of houses.

Easington Colliery Mine in Operation (Photo copyright District of Easington Archives)

Copyright District of Easington Archives

Seaham Harbour was built and coal was leaving from it by 1831. A number of shipwrecks can be found at sea and shows the dangers of the sea but it also indicates the number of ships which travelled up and and down the coastline. The mines used up a lot of space and tipping onto the beach lessened the enjoyment of the coast. All the mines have now closed and much has been cleaned up and returned to its original state of Magnesian Limestone grassland. Plants and animals are reappearing throughout the coast - go out and enjoy the countryside!

Habitats on the Coast

Woodlands and Coastal Gills

Many years ago (12,000 years) the ice that covered much of the area melted. The water from the ice cut deep channels to form what we now know as Denes or Gills with streams running through them to join the sea - the streams can only be seen during wet periods. Trees have grown along the denes to create woodlands. Castle Eden Dene is a good example of a wooded dene.

Magnesian Limestone Grassland

The coast is unique. If you walk along the beaches of the Heritage Coast you will see a yellow rock that makes up the cliffs - often with arches and caves in it. This is the Magnesian Limestone and is the only place in Britain that it can be found on the coast. The grassland that grows on this is species rich and important for its plants and animals. (See Wildlife Guides under downloads section).

When you are out and about on the beach it is worth remembering some general safety points from the 'General Safety and Conservation Code'

• Always put litter in the appropriate bin or take it home with you.
• Never pick wild flowers or take living animals home.
• Always take care when crossing roads or railways. Look both ways and never run.
• Respect other people's right to peace and quiet.

Coastal Sand Dunes

Crimdon sands is the place to go for an example of a growing dune system on the Heritage Coast - there are more sand dunes toward Hartlepool. Sand dunes are fragile, with both natural and man-made erosion creating sudden changes in this habitat. This makes sand dunes one of the most rapidly changing habitats along the Durham coast. (More information on sand dunes can be found on our leaflet under the 'downloads' section).

The dune starts by sand piling up against a small barrier such as a clump of rotten seaweed just above the high tide line and then continues to grow, helped by vegetation.

Strandline Communities

The strandline shows where the sea comes up to by a line of seaweed and other debris at the high water mark. This line moves up and down the beach depending on the height of the tide and a lot of animals use it for food, especially on the more sheltered beaches.

Rocky Shores and Seashore Life

Rocky shores can be seen at Seaham, Blackhall Rocks and Crimdon. The water has become clearer in recent years as colliery waste is no longer dumped into the sea. This means the number of species found on the coast is likely to increase.

On the Durham coast there are several types of habitat from sandy shores to bedrock and boulder. The majority of the animals and plants on the Durham coast occur on rocky shores, with most of these areas being newly exposed and experiencing seasonal scouring and coverage by sand. Lots more information on seashore life can be found in our leaflet under the 'downloads' section.

The Intertidal Zone

There are roughly two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours, and the intertidal zone is the area between the tides. Gentle sloping shores such as Seaham and Crimdon have large tidal zones but where there are steep cliffs, such as at Blackhall, it is only small. This means it is a difficult place for marine plants and animals to live. They have to cope with the pounding sea and the drying out by the sun. Many animals have a strong muscular foot to hold them on the rocks (periwinkle, limpets). Some have hard shells to protect against the force of the waves and stop moisture loss.

Rocks (Geology)

This is the story of the rocks beneath our feet and has been very important in the development of the settlements and the coast.

Carboniferous Period 350-295 Million Years

The oldest rocks on the coast are about 310 million years old and the important rock found here is the coal. At the time when the coal was formed the land was at the equator and everything was hot and moist- a bit like the Amazon basin now. Great forests of primitive trees, great ferns and other vegetation grew on swamps.
There were no flowering plants. When the plants died they built up as a thick layer and this was buried by mud and sand left by the rivers which regularly changed their channels. Some plants and occasionally animals were preserved as fossils. The land was squeezed and the thick layers of vegetation become the coals seams that were later mined in the area. The rocks were pushed upwards and became hill and valleys. Weathering (the rocks are broken down for example by sun and rain) of the rocks occurred.

Permian Period 295-250 Million Years

The area was moving northwards away from the equator. The land was a hot barren desert covered with sand dunes. These sands are now found at depth at the Durham coast. They are soft rock and contain a lot of water. This caused problems for a number of mines and meant that many of the mines along the coast were started later than inland. German mine engineers came to Durham and showed how the water in the sand could be frozen and the mine shaft could be dug and lined and then the water was left to unfreeze.

Eventually the desert was flooded by a sea known as the Zechstein Sea. This was a warm sea. The sea area expanded and contracted so dried out in some places and then was flooded again. Thick layers of limey mud grew and was later compressed and hardened to become the pale yellow Magnesian Limestone that is a familiar part of the cliffs seen on the coastline. The Durham Heritage coast is the only Magnesian Limestone coastline in Europe and this makes it especially important for its plants and animals. Magnesian Limestone grassland that grows on the coast is particularly interesting as it has to cope with exposure to wind and sea.

In places fossil fish can be found in a thin layer of grey limestone at the base of the Magnesian Limestone.

In the warm seas near the coast edge a barrier reef developed made up of bryozoans (moss like animals). The reef developed as a harder rock than the surrounding rock and forms a number of the hills seen along the coast such as Beacon Hill.

After this other rocks may have been laid down but there is no evidence of this until the Quaternary period.

Quaternary Period –‘Ice Age’ 2.5 Million Years Ago to Present

A period of global cooling caused polar ice sheets to extend southwards to cover much of Great Britain and Northern Europe. After that the climate has changed between colder and warmer stages. At the moment we are in a warmer stage

The coastline may show the oldest rocks of this period. Large cracks and river channels have been filled in with boulders and fragments of rock and clay that vary in age with some probably from times before the last ice age.

Many of the cliffs have a capping of soft gravels and sands. This can be seen clearly at Seaham Hall Beach. This capping is material left by the last ice age.

Beach Safety Code

And finally some do's and don'ts about visiting the beach...

Do's

Do check the weather before your trip as high winds can bring in the tide very quickly

• Do wear appropriate clothes - take a waterproof, hat and wear sensible shoes - it is often colder at the coast than inland.
• Do check tide times so you don't get caught out.
• Do keep a watch on the water's edge to allow time to get back safely.
• Do take notice of any warning signs and abide by them.
• Do keep both hands free when climbing over rocks as seaweed can make them very slippy.
• Do have fun!

Don'ts

Don't go near cliff edges, or work underneath them or climb on them as they can be unstable.

• Don't throw anything off a cliff or at people or animals.
• Don't go into the sea in rough water as waves can easily sweep you away.
• Don't go into the sea deeper than knee height.
• Don't walk on rocks in bare feet as they can cut you. It is advisable to always wear footwear on the beach because of jellyfish, glass and other sharp objects.
• Don't touch any bottles, drums or unusual containers on the beach in case they contain toxic substances. Report them to your local authority.

The beach also has its own Conservation Code.

• Watch the seashore without disturbing it - don't take living things away from the shore, use your senses.
• Return seashore life to its own place - always put any plants, animals or even rocks found on the shore back where you found them; never take living animals home with you.
• Keep seaweeds alive - never pull out living or attached seaweed as they are home to lots of small animals, only take loose seaweed in the strandline.
• Do not disturb any mammals or birds found on the beach - they could lose valuable feeding time or desert their young.
• Keep the beach clean - take all litter home with you or put it in the appropriate bin.
• Leave the beach as you found it so others can enjoy it after you.

Don't forget to always take your litter home with you!

People from the Past

Anne Isabella Byron 17 May 1792 - 16 May 1860

Anne Isabella Milbanke (her name before she was married) was the only child of Sir Ralph Milbanke, Baronet and his wife, Lady Judith Milbanke. In 1792 Sir Ralph Milbanke moved from Dalden Tower to Seaham Hall. He extended and rebuilt the main hall more or less how we see it now. She was a very gifted child and her parents hired a tutor, a former Cambridge University professor. Her education included classical literature, philosophy and more unusually for the times science and mathematics at which she excelled.

In March 1812 Annabella as she was known by her friends met Lord Byron-the poet. Byron proposed to Annabella in October 1812 but she turned him down.

In August 1813 Annabella started writing to Byron again and Sir Ralph Milbanke invited Byron to visit Seaham Hall. Byron again asked Annabella to marry him and this time she accepted. They were married in Seaham Hall on the 2 January 1815.

Byron was in debt, mainly because he refused the money for his written works (he didn’t think he was being paid enough). He became very moody and his poems from that time and about his life in Seaham shows he was not very happy.

On December 10 1815 Lady Byron gave birth to Ada their only child.

In January 1816 Byron suggested Annabella and Ada should return to her parents home in Leicestershire (the Milbankes had several homes including Seaham Hall) In March 1816 Lord and Lady Byron agreed to be separated. Lord Byron left England soon after this and never returned.

In 1821 the Milbankes sold Seaham Hall to Charles William Stewart. Lord Byron died in Greece on April 19th 1824. Annabella committed herself to other causes such as prison reform and abolition of slavery whilst bringing up her daughter Ada.

Augusta Ada King- Countess of Lovelace Dec 10 1815 - November 27 1852

Ada Lovelace

Ada the daughter of Lord Byron and Lady Byron (Annabella Milbanke) was a gifted mathematician and schooled privately by the same tutor as her mother, William Frend, as well as William King and Mary Somerville ( Mary Somerville was a noted researcher and scientific author of the 19th Century). Mary Somerville introduced Ada to Charles Babbage in 1833

In 1835 she married William King, 8th Baron King, later 1st Earl of Lovelace. They had three children, Byron, Annabella and Ralph.

From 1842-3 Ada translated Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea’s memoir on Babbage’s new machine-the Analytical Engine. She also added a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers within the machine and which historians now recognise as the worlds first computer program.

3rd Marquess of Londonderry 1778-1854

Charles William Stuart, later Vane and nicknamed Fighting Charlie was born in Dublin, educated at Eton and at the age of 16 became a lieutenant in the British Army. He had various appointments and by 1813 was made Colonel of the 25th Light Dragoons.

In 1819 he married his second wife-Frances Anne Vane-Tempest who at 19 was the daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest who owned several coalmines near to Durham.

In 1821 he brought Seaham Hall from Sir Ralph Milbanke and in 1822 he became the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry.

The Penshaw and Rainton collieries in 1822 earned the family £61,364 whilst the miners themselves only earned a few pounds a year. The cost of shipping coal along the River Wear to Sunderland was £10,000 a year and so Londonderry decided to build a tramway and then a railway to Seaham and a harbour that could take the coal to market.

In 1823 he was created Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham in recognition of his works in Seaham. By 1828 the foundation stone of the harbour was laid and the first coal ships departed the harbour in 1831. A number of mines were also opened up in the area at Seaham and Seaton for the Londonderrys. The influence of the Londonderrys can be seen throughout Seaham through the layout of the town around the harbour but also in many street names.