The Coast

History

Durham Heritage Coast has a unique and chequered history that has shaped the cultural identity of local communities. The rich cultural heritage has fostered a sense of interest and pride in local history and will assist in developing a coastal identity and cohesion in future management. An assessment of the archaeological resources of the management area was conducted in 1998 by Durham University and the following section is extracted from this report. Evidence shows that the Durham Heritage Coast was an especially significant centre of activity and occupation during the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Roman periods.

"...The history and archaeology of the coast in Durham is distinctive, and continual reference to historical themes and motifs from outside…… is not necessary".

Turning the Tide

This heavily degraded coastline emphasised the deprivation of the area until a partnership of fourteen organisations came together between 1997-2002 to regenerate the coast of Durham. The Turning The Tide (TTT) Partnership successfully regenerated and cleaned up the coastal strip. TTT, a £10 million programme of environmental improvements, was implemented through a hundred separate projects. This link will take you to the Turning the Tide on the Durham Coast and you can view a Turning the Tide video, the attached link will take you to the page for launching this film - Durham Heritage Coast - Durham Heritage Coast - Videos - Turning The Tide.

Original programme aims of Turning The Tide:

• To restore, enhance and conserve the environmental quality of the Durham Coast.
• To encourage sustainable use and enjoyment of the Durham Coast.
• To rekindle local pride and a sense of ownership of the Durham Coast.

The project's achievements can be broken down into four main areas:

1. Removal of Spoil and Debris

Natural marine erosion has begun the process of removal of spoil to bring the beaches back to their normal level over the next 20 years or more. In addition to the colliery spoil, a large amount of mining debris was discarded on the shore. A regular regime of cleaning was started under TTT to clear the coast of this kind of debris. Colliery reclamation sites at Easington and Horden had large cliff edge spoil heaps. In both cases, these heaps were removed and spoil was spread over the sites, capped and covered with soil to create public open space at Easington and for habitat creation at Horden. In total, 1.3 million tonnes of spoil was removed and 80 hectares of land was reclaimed by this process.

2. Improving and Creating Access

Improved access by providing facilities that enabled people to use the coast for informal recreation. 20km of footpath has been created to form the Durham Coastal Footpath Route enabling people to walk this particular stretch of coastline for the first time. Links from the main route to the coastal settlements facilitate its use for local circular walks as well as a day long extended route.

In addition the Partnership installed 47km of cycle route as part of the National Cycle Network. Linking local villages, schools and the newly created enterprise zones, the cycle-ways provide a safe route not only for leisure and recreational use but also as an environmentally friendly, sustainable method of transportation to work, school and home.

3. Enhancing Habitat Creation

The Durham Coast hosts 92% of the total area of para-maritime Magnesian Limestone grassland habitat in Britain. The Partnership has purchased much of the agricultural land on the coastal fringe and, using the local seed bank, has converted a further 225ha of land for habitat creation. Much of the TTT programme has subsequently been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserves. Two foreshore areas to the extreme north and south have been given the European designation of SPA (Special Protected Area) as environmental improvements have provided an enhanced habitat for species such as the Purple Sandpiper in the north and the Little Tern in the south.

Further enhancement of the landscape included working with local communities to reduce the impact of eyesores such as allotment fences. More substantial works have completely regenerated the sea front at Seaham with the coastal car parks and promenade totally overhauled in a project to provide facilities of the highest quality for this gateway to the County’s coastline.

Early History

The Durham Coast has been populated throughout prehistoric and Roman periods and was a centre of activity during the Mesolithic (8000 - 4000 B.C.) and Neolithic (4000 - 2000 B.C.) periods. There have been recent finds of flint tools and weapons in the area which are important for understanding human activity in the North East and the Durham Coast is the only location within County Durham to yield a large collection of flints. Significant Mesolithic finds include a hearth identified at Crimdon Dene, such finds indicate substantial exploitation activity at this time and are concentrated near sheltered denes.

Although there is little evidence of Bronze Age (2000 B.C. -750 A.D.) activity within the Heritage Coast, there is speculation that Bronze Age burial sites may exist. An assessment in 1998 by the University of Durham found considerable evidence for the Bronze age in the coastal hinterland with many finds of food vessels between Seaham and Sunderland and burial barrows between Seaham and Peterlee.

There has been no evidence of the Iron Age (750 B.C. - 75 A.D.) uncovered in the area. How much this is due to lack of archaeological study or historic use patterns is unclear. Many sites of Iron Age date are known from the region, including sites located on the coast, indicating the likely occurrence of similar sites locally.

Roman

Evidence of Roman presence (75 - 400 A.D.) is not well established. There have been a number of finds around Seaham, although there has been no excavation. It is likely that there was settlement at Seaham due to the many finds there but without any evidence of settlement. It has been suggested that Seaham Headland or Beacon Hill to the south may be the site of a Roman signal station. Given the large amount of Roman activity elsewhere in the region it is likely that evidence of settlement may be recovered. County Durham is well known for its Roman forts and settlements, but military and civilian sites at the coast and its hinterland have yet to be found. There are suggestions that the coast may have been used as an outpost system serving Hadrian's Wall. At Blackhills Gill, Horden, a cluster of Roman finds is recorded suggesting a station or other kind of settlement. Roman pottery has been found to the north of Ryhope Dene.

Medieval

There are few remnants of the pagan English period, except for some notable early sites such as the pagan cemetery at Easington from around 6-8th century.

There have been recent excavations at Seaham Headland uncovering timber and burials indicative of monastic origins. Locally, the churches at Easington St Mary's, Seaham St Mary's and Castle Eden St James, and their associated settlements show evidence of early medieval activity. Castle Eden is mentioned in 10th century texts as having secular settlement. Many local place names such as Yoden and Easington have a strong Old English origin.

Fragments of the late medieval landscape survive in the form of ridge and furrow (known locally as rigg and furrow) earthworks such as at Beacon Hill, a result of the ploughing practice used at the time. The most notable exists at Station Cottages in Horden. Modern industrial and agricultural development has removed a great deal of these landscape features.

Recent Industrial Past

The two lime kilns in Hawthorn Dene illustrate early industrial development of the area.

Many more once existed throughout the management area. Place names such as Limekiln Gill appear at both Horden and Crimdon. The lime produced was used for agricultural improvement as well as for the production of mortar. Lime production grew with industrialisation and provided material for the large iron and chemical works at Dawdon. Hawthorn quarry expanded in the 19th and 20th centuries. Smaller scale industry appears at Hawthorn Mill. These early industrial heritage sites are a substantial educational resource for the Heritage Coast.

Coal had by far the biggest impact on the whole area. Its rise and subsequent domination of Durham's coastline began in the 1830's. The earliest collieries; Murton, Easington and Seaham opened in the 19th century and pioneered techniques to deal with the depth of coal seams. Vane Tempest, Dawdon and Blackhall pits were opened in the 20th century. The mines used considerable areas of land, with their spoil heaps spilling on to the beaches. Settlements grew rapidly alongside the collieries, and these villages now provide the backdrop to today's coast. The rapid closure of the collieries in the early 1990's had a dramatic and adverse impact on the socio-economic status of the area. The landscape also changed 'overnight' with the removal of the colliery buildings.

Seaham town and harbour was built specifically for the coal industry and the subsequent rise in maritime traffic in the post medieval and modern period is reflected in the large number of shipwrecks off the coast.

War History

The North East Coast was vulnerable during two World Wars. As a result many defensive structures remain. In addition to pillboxes and tank traps, defensive trench systems survive at Crimdon Dene, Blackhall Rocks and Castle Eden Dene. There are impressive trenches at Hawthorn Hive Point. In addition twelve surviving pillboxes have been identified overlooking access points such as the mouth of the denes. Tank traps also survive across three of the denes.

Underwater

English Heritage's review of coastal heritage in 1996 emphasised the importance of the intertidal zone as an archeological resource and recognised the importance of submerged and eroded landscapes in interpreting the coast. No programme of inter tidal archaeological survey has been conducted on the Durham coast, although it was included in an assessment of maritime heritage.

There are some 300 possible ship wreck sites recorded off the coast, either as net snags or documentary records, with only an accurate location for twelve of these. This is due to the rapid expansion of the local and regional economy, particularly the coal trade taking coal to London and may also be related to the state of the boats being used.

Although some of these sites are protected most are not and are still awaiting detailed excavation and description. User pressure in the form of vandalism and in the case of underwater site salvage may cause loss and damage of important sites. Environmental impacts from coastal erosion may lose finds before their significance is assessed.