Visit Middlesbrough Places

Visit Middlesbrough Place – things to do & explore

  

Middlesbrough places overview by Walkfo

---

Middlesbrough history

---

Early history

Middlesbrough started as a Benedictine priory on the south bank of the River Tees . Its name possibly derived from it being midway between the holy sites of Durham and Whitby . The earliest recorded form of Middlesborough’s name is “Mydilsburgh”

Industrialisation

Iron and steel have dominated the Tees area since 1841 when Henry Bolckow founded the Vulcan iron foundry and rolling mill . Teesside became known as the “Iron-smelting centre of the world” by 1851 . Middlesbrough’s rapid expansion continued throughout the second half of the 19th century (fuelled by the iron and steel industry), the population reaching 90,000 by the dawn of the 20th century .

Welsh migration

A Welsh community was established in Middlesbrough sometime before the 1840s, with mining being the main form of employment . This Welsh population grew rapidly after 1841 when John Vaughan established Teeside’s first ironworks, The Vulcan Works . By 1861 42% of the town’s ironworkers identified as Welsh and one in twenty of the total population .

Irish migration

From 1861 to 1871, the census of England & Wales showed that Middlesbrough consistently had the second highest percentage of Irish born people in England after Liverpool . The Irish population in 1861 accounted for 15.6% of the total population . In 1871 the amount had dropped to 9.2% yet this still placed Middlesborough’s Irish population second in England behind Liverpool .

Second World War

Middlesbrough was the first major British town and industrial target to be bombed during the Second World War . The Luftwaffe first bombed the town on 25 May 1940, when a lone bomber dropped 13 bombs between South Bank Road and the South Steel plant . More bombing occurred throughout the course of the war, with the railway station put out of action in 1942 .

Green Howards

The Green Howards were formed in 1688 to serve King William of Orange, later King William III . As Middlesbrough grew, its population of men came to be most targeted by recruiters . On 6 June 2006, this famous regiment was merged into the new Yorkshire Regiment .

Post Second World War to contemporary era

Middlesbrough’s 1903 Gaumont cinema, originally an opera house until the 1930s, was demolished in 1971 . The Cleveland Centre opened in 1971, Hill Street shopping centre opened in 1981 and Captain Cook Square opened in 1999 . The A66 was built through the town in the 1980s, the Royal Exchange building was demolished, to make way for the road . The original St.Hilda’s area, after decades of decline and clearance, was given a new name of Middlehaven in 1986 on investment proposals to build on the land . Middlehaven is the “Boho” zone, offering office space to the area’s business .

Middlesbrough economy & business

Industry

TeesAMP advanced manufacturing park is designed to accommodate businesses associated with advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies . The area is still home to the nearby large Wilton International industrial site which until 1995 was largely owned by Imperial Chemical Industries .

Port

Teesport is 1 mile (2 km) from the North Sea and 4 miles (6 km) east of Middlesbrough, on the River Tees . It currently handles over 4,350 vessels each year and around 27 million tonnes of cargo . Steel, petrochemical, agribulks, manufacturing, engineering and high street commerce operations all supported through Teesports .

University

Teesside University has 18,000 students, 2,400 staff and operates a £250,000,000 campus in Middlesbrough town-centre . The university has a growing reputation for developing digital businesses particularly in the field of digital animation and for hosting the Animex festival .

Hospitals

The South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has the James Cook University Hospital in the town . Roseberry Park Hospital is psychiatric orientated and replaced St Luke’s Hospital . Acklam Road Hospital is operated by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust . Ramsey Health operate the private Tees Valley Hospital in Acklam .

Hospitality and shopping

Middlesbrough has four shopping centres accessible from Linthorpe road: Cleveland Centre, Hill Street, Captain Cook Square and Dundas . Cleveland retail park (South Bank), Parkway Centre (Coulby Newham) and Teesside Park are on the Town’s outskirts .

Former metalworks

In 1900, Bolckow, Vaughan & Co had become the largest producer of steel in Great Britain . In 1914, Dorman Long, another major steel producer from Middlesbrough, became the largest company in Britain, employing over 20,000 . The steel components of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) were engineered and fabricated by the company responsible for the New Tyne Bridge .

Middlesbrough landmarks

Buildings

Middlesbrough’s oldest domestic building is Acklam Hall of 1678, built by Sir William Hustler . Town Hall, Town Hall and Empire Empire are Grade II listed buildings . The Dorman Long office is the only commercial building ever designed by Philip Webb .

Artworks

The Temenos sculpture, designed by sculptor Anish Kapoor and designer Cecil Balmond, is a steel structure near to the north west side of the Riverside Stadium . It stands approximately 110 m long and 50 m high and is held together by steel wire . It was unveiled in 2010 at a cost of £2.7 million .

Bridges

The Transporter Bridge spans the River Tees between Middlesbrough and Port Clarence . At 850 feet (260 m) long and 225 feet (69 m) high, it is one of only two left in working order in Britain . The bridge remains in daily use and is Grade II* listed building .

You can visit Middlesbrough places and use Walkfo Middlesbrough to discover the history & things to do in Middlesbrough whilst walking with our free digital tour app. Walkfo Middlesbrough has 66 places on our Middlesbrough map with history, culture & travel facts that you explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Middlesbrough, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route – you choose where you want to go, when you want to go and Walkfo Middlesbrough will keep up.
–
With millions of places including tourist walks, Middlesbrough travel destinations, National Trust locations converted to audio experiences, our Middlesbrough places AI guide will help you get the best from your visit to Middlesbrough & the surrounding areas. The Middlesbrough places app for iPhone & Android delivers hidden history, interesting culture and amazing facts in interactive audio stories in response to where you walk at National Heritage sites, tourist attractions, historic locations or city streets, with no predefined walk map requirements.

“The Walkfo AI has curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 66 audio facts unique to Middlesbrough places forming an interactive Middlesbrough map for you to explore.”

Walkfo’s Visit Middlesbrough Places Map
66 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Middlesbrough historic spot	Middlesbrough tourist destination	Middlesbrough plaque	Middlesbrough geographic feature
Walkfo Middlesbrough tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Middlesbrough

  

Best Middlesbrough places to visit

---

Middlesbrough has many places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Middlesbrough’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Middlesbrough’s information audio spots:

Acklam, Middlesbrough Acklam is a suburb in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. It is believed that the settlement is Anglo-Saxon in origin. The name is Old English for “place at the oak clearings” or “place of oaks”

Middlesbrough Theatre Middlesbrough Theatre (formerly the Little Theatre) was opened by Sir John Gielgud in 1957. It was one of the first new theatres built in England after the Second World War.

Linthorpe Linthorpe is an inner-suburb of Middlesbrough and former village. The area is near Ayresome, Acklam, Grove Hill and Grove Hill. It contains two wards, one containing the cemetery and one containing Albert Park.

Paradise Ground The Paradise Ground was a football ground in Middlesbrough in England. It was the home ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis.

Middlesbrough Council Middlesbrough Council is independent of the county council. The authority has combined some duties with its nearby councils to form the Tees Valley Combined Authority. It unsuccessfully bid to achieve city status in 2012, to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough The Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough was founded on 20 December 1878. It is part of the province of Liverpool. The Bishop’s See is in Coulby Newham, Middlesborough, at St Mary’s Cathedral.

Club Bongo Bongo Club, also known as Club Bongo International, is one of the oldest nightclubs in Middlesbrough. It closed in June 2017 due to its licence being revoked after a man was attacked at the club. It is due to re-open after a £400,000 refit in spring 2018.

Marton, Middlesbrough Marton (officially Marton-in-Cleveland) is a suburb of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. Until the 1950s, it was a small village next to the hamlet of Tollesby in Yorkshire’s North Riding. At the 2011 census, the Marton Ward (Marton East since 2015) had a population of 4,728.

Thorntree Thorntree is a housing estate in east Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in the late 1940s, in the lands of the former Thorntree Farm. The estate was identified as the 3rd most deprived (out of 8,414) housing ward in England, in 2000.

Cleveland, England Cleveland is a land of hills and dales from the River Tees to Vale of Pickering, England. A national park was established in 1952, it covers part of the area and is called the North York Moors. A non-metropolitan county under the same name existed from 1974 to 1996.

Visit Middlesbrough plaques