Stillington & Whitton Residents Association

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Stillington

From The Archives: Redmarshall', A History of the County of Durham: Volume 3

In the 13th century the hamlet of Stillington was part of the extensive estates held by the Amurdiville family, whose head was one of the powerful barons controlling the country throughout this period

'About 1200 Robert de Amurdiville granted to Ralph de Hamsterley 2 oxgangs of land in STILLINGTON (Stillyngton, xiii cent.) that had belonged to Robert son of Huchtred.

The whole 'manor' was in 1268 acquired by Walter de Merton from Thomas son of Ralph de Amurdiville, one of his special friends, and given to Merton College, Oxford, which he founded. The college possesses deeds relating to the place from 1200 onwards and court rolls of the manor from 1290 to 1396, but the customs of the manor have not been kept up. William de Hamsterley, who granted certain lands to John his son, released part at least of his holding to the college in 1290. In 1634 Charles I granted a confirmation of the manor to the warden and scholars of Merton, and the college retains the estate in Stillington.'

1830 -1950

Information from 'There was a Green Hill. The History of Stillington From Its Beginnings Until 1950' John Donald Tuffs 1999

1833 Opening of the Clarence Railway

1838 Original Stillington Railway Station Erected

1838 Two Cottages built adjacent to Station

1858 Sale of Moor Closes (site of Iron Works)

1860 Manufacture of bricks started at Moor Closes

1865 Start of Iron Works. Transfer of Moor Closes ownership to Bastow & Co Ltd and commencement of building Blast Furnaces

1866 Blast furnace brought into operation1866, 2nd blast furnace built then furnaces closed down due to financial problems

1870 Model lodging house built, bought by Briggs Bros. - North of England Industrial Iron & Coal Co. Raised height of blast
furnaces to 80ft and also erected a 3rd furnace.

1870 First street of houses, Slag Row (18 houses) - renamed North Street

1870 Railway passenger halt opened

1871 Blast furnaces brought into operation

1871 Number of Houses 12 - Total population 79

1872 Ecclesiastical Parish of Stillington formed

1873 West Street (31 houses), South Street (16 houses), for workers and Mount Pleasant (6 houses) for senior personnel built

1873 Stable Row later renamed Office Row (3 houses)

1874 Cassidi Hall built as a Mission House – (now Cassidi Gardens). Co-operative Stores opened in 16 West Street

1875 Temporary School opened in the model lodging house

1876 The Royal Hotel built & Railway Row (4 houses)

1876 Workingman’s Club and 3 shops forming Morrison Terrace

1876 Church Street later renamed Lowson Street (13 houses) Morrison Street (37 houses) built

1877 Company changed name to Carlton Iron Company Limited

1877 School and school house built adjacent to Lowson Street houses

1878 Typhoid Fever hit village

1879 Foundation stone for St John’s Church laid – completed 1880

1881 Number of Houses 135 - Total population 611

1884 Wesleyan Chapel built end of South Street

1884 Vicarage built

1884 Railway Station, Station House and Subway built

1885 Infant School moved into Cassidi Hall

1888 Forty Coke Ovens erected north of Blast Furnaces

1888 Water Supply to village

1889 Extension to Lowson Street, extra 21 houses

1891 Number of Houses 158 - Total population 976

1891 School Fees abolished

1894 Water taps to each house

1895 Whitton Parish formed (Whitton Village & Village of Carlton Iron Works)

1897 Glykoline Lubricant Company opened

1898 Glykoline Terrace built (3 houses)

1899 Little Lowson Street built (17 houses)

1899 Extention of Lowson St (7 houses) and Morrison St (7 houses)

1901 Number of Houses 192 -Total Population 994

1903 Measles & Whooping Cough Epidemic – 95 out of 135 absent from school

1911 Number of Houses 192 - Total population 1024

1911 Wm Cassidi School built and Lowson School Children took possession

Infants moved from Cassidi Hall into Lowson School

1912 Blacking Mill started in Iron Works Rolling Mill building

1913 Proposed water closets to be fitted in new houses and privies converted where possible

1913 Redmarshall Street (20 houses) and Kirk Street (9 houses) built

1914 149 youths volunteered for war active service, 36 killed in action

1920 Dorman & Long took over the Iron Works

Total street lights in village were 8, powered through works generator

1920 West St (West side) 29 houses, South Street (8 houses) built - these houses came under Sedgefield RDC the rest of village
was under Stockton RDC - this was not resolved until Cleveland County was formed in 1974

1921 The Park (Kirk Street / Redmarshall Street) constructed

1921 Messines Lane (named after WW1 battle site) constructed – known today as The New Road

1921 Bells Square, site of the Park Gates

1921 Number of Houses 263 -Total Population 1315

1922 Carlton Iron Works employed 460 (405 men & boys, 51 women & girls)

1922 Playing field made suitable for cricket, children not allowed to play there

1922 Unveiling of the War Memorial

1925 Twelve more street lights added

1926 Formation of North Eastern Iron Refinery Company Limited - start of specialised refined pig iron

1928 Provision of telegraph facilities in village

1929 Formation of Boy Scouts Group

1930 Dorman & Long decided work would cease forthwith after last furnace ‘blew out’. Works closed

1930 Churchyard extension

1931 Number of Houses 263 -Total Population 1130 despite heavy unemployment

1931 The village of Carlton Iron Works was renamed Stillington and the original Stillington was renamed Old Stillington

1931 Fire Hydrant erected in West Street (still there)

1934 Conversion of privies to water closets

1934 Formation of voluntary Fire Brigade

1935 End of Carlton Iron Company

1935 Co-operative Store moved from West St to Morrison Terrace

1937 Slag Works (The Cracker) closed down

1938 First Telephone Box sited at Lowson Street

1939 Stillite Products Limited opened

1940 Formation of Home Guard, Auxiliary Fire Service,

1940 Searchlight sited between Stillington and Old Stillington

1941 British plane crashed left of Whitton road

1941 Air Raid Shelters built

1943 German Dornier Aircraft Shot Down – 4 crew apprehended by Stillington Home Guard

1945 Playing field bought through local fundraising organised by Women’s Institute for £130 for sole use as a recreational area
with overseeing and maintenance by the Parish Council

1945 Dorman & Long sold all village houses to Bradford Property Trust, who then offered them for purchase to sitting tenants

1946 German Prisoners of War cleaned up all areas north of Railway line

1947 Cassidi Hall taken over as Workingman’s Club

1947 Electric Lighting in village school

1948 Stillington Parish Players formed (Amateur Dramatics). Whitton Grove (26 houses) Park Crescent (30 houses) built

1950 North Street demolished (18 houses)

1950 onwards

1952 Railway Station ceased passenger services

1953 Women's Institute built Village Hall in the park at the top of Remarshall Street (Used as Works Canteen also)

1954 The Park divided into plots and sold