A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



1849,** and the evil effects are experienced to this 

 day, while on the score of beauty it may be said that 

 with the exception of the church there is not a single 

 building or street in Hartlepool which possesses the 

 slightest architectural dignity. Some improvements, 

 however, there were; the Hartlepool Gas and Water 

 Company was formed in 1846, and the citizens were 

 no longer dependent for their water upon two wells 

 and the rainfall. 



The whole area of the borough is built over except 

 the Town Moor*" and the cemetery on Hart Warren. 

 In 1889 the promenade along the sea front to the 

 lighthouse, forming the chief open-air recreation place 

 for the town, was finished. 



The old town hall in Southgate Street had been 

 rebuilt about 1750.-" A borough hall and market 

 buildings in Middlegate Street were erected in 1866, 

 «nd the corporation acquired a large hall, now used 

 as a town hall, in Lumley Street in 1902. A new 

 borough hall was built in 1926. The Hartlepools 

 Port Sanitary Hospital was opened at Throston in 



1877. 



One of the most stirring experiences in the history 

 of Hartlepool occurred on 16 December 1914, when 

 the town, together with West Hartlepool, was bom- 

 barded by three German cruisers for slightly over half 

 an hour. The first shell, fired at 8.15 a.m., missed 

 the lighthouse, but wrecked part of the house on its 

 left, liilling two women. The most serious damage 

 was done in Old Hartlepool, especially beyond and 

 behind the land batteries, which replied effectively as 

 far as their guns of medium calibre allowed. One 

 shell fell in the Royal Engineer lines and others in 

 those of the 18th (Service) Battalion of the Durham 

 Light Infantry. The roof of St. Hilda's Church was 

 partly wrecked, the gasometer was set on fire, and 

 many houses were hit at the farther end of West 

 Hartlepool. Including g soldiers, 128 persons were 

 killed, many being women and children, and over 

 400 were injured. 



John Wesley frequently visited Hartlepool, which 

 is mentioned in his Journal in 1757, 1759, 1761, 

 1766, 1784, 1786 and 1790; he was always well 

 received, but his labours did not have much per- 

 m.ment effect, and in 1786 he wrote: ' Surely the 

 seed will spring up at last even here, where we 

 seemed so long to be ploughing on the sand.' ^' 

 A small congregation was gathered by the means of 

 a wealthy Wesleyan, Mr. Middleton, who gave his 

 name to the district of Middleton between the 

 two Hartlepools. After meeting in private rooms 

 for some time, the congregation built a chapel on 

 the Town Wall about 1793. A new and larger 

 chapel was built in Northgate in 1839.-- 



There are two United Methodist chapels, built in 

 i860 and 1876, and a Primitive Methodist chapel, 



'" Sharp, Iliit. of Harilej>i>!>!, 24 n. 



'^ See below. 



'" Sharp, Hist, of Hartlepool, 10;. 



" Wesley, Journ. (ed. 5), ii, 4.15, 492 ; 

 iii, 62, 255 ; iv, 279, 333,488. 



" Sharp, Hist, of HartUpool, Suppl. 

 92-4 ; Dur. Rcc. d. 3, 132, no. 5. 



*^ Sharp, op. cit. 95. 



" Ibid. 96. 



" Ibid. 98. 



»« Ibid. 100. 



''Ibid. 102. 



^ Ibid. 103. 



"Pat. 21 Ric. If, pt. i, m. 31. 



built in I 85 I. -5 St. John's Presbyterian Church of 

 England, in Brougham Street, was built in 1882-3 

 to take the place of an earlier chapel built in 1839.-'' 

 A Congregational chapel was built in 1843-4.^' 

 The Baptist chapel was built in 1851-2.^'^ 



It has been mentioned above that the Roman 

 Catholic element in Hartlepool continued strong 

 from the i6th century, but the first Roman Catholic 

 chapel was not opened until 1834, when a very 

 small one was built and given to the congregation 

 by John Wells.-' The present Roman Catholic 

 church of St. Mary was built in 1850-1.-" 



Hartlepool being within the manor 

 BOROUGH of Hart (q.v.) belonged in the 12th 

 century to the Brus family. Richard II 

 confirmed in 1397 a charter of Adam de Brus grant- 

 ing to his burgesses of Hartlepool the customs, laws 

 and statutes of the burgesses of Newcastle.^^ This 

 is the earliest known charter of the borough. The 

 names of the witnesses ■''' indicate that the grantor 

 was the Adam de Brus, lord of Skelton, who 

 succeeded his father in 1143.'^ In February 

 1 200-1 a charter to the same effect, granting also 

 that the men of Hartlepool should be free bur- 

 gesses, was obtained from King John, the burgesses 

 paying for it a fine of 30 marks. '^ Hartlepool was 

 the only Durham borough to receive a royal 

 charter. It belonged to the wapent.ike of Sad- 

 berge, which the bishop had acquired in 1190, 

 but as it was part of the fee of the powerful Brus 

 family it maintained an uncertain independence of 

 the episcopal jurisdiction.'^ A market on Wednes- 

 day and a three days' fair were granted by the king 

 to William de Brus in the year of the charter to the 

 town,'* and were confirmed to his son Robert in 

 1215, when the date of the fair was given as the 

 feast of St. Laurence and the two days following.'' 

 Nevertheless this grant had apparently not come into 

 force in 12 18, possibly as a result of some protest 

 from the bishop. In that year Robert de Brus 

 agreed that his mother should have a third of the 

 market and fair in dower, provided that either of 

 them could get possession of these liberties."* 



In 1230 the burgesses obtained a new charter 

 from Bishop Richard le Poor by which the fair on 

 St. Laurence's Day (and a fortnight afterwards) was 

 granted to them. They also had a grant of a 

 market, the day being changed to Tuesday. The 

 charter added other important privileges to those 

 granted by King John and Adam de Brus. It 

 allowed the burgesses to have a mayor as their chief 

 officer, and to e.stablish a gild merchant ; and it 

 definitely stated that they held their tenements by 

 rents and no other services. The bishop reserved 

 to himself and his successors all due customs, in- 

 cluding the prisage of wine, and ' reasonable emption 



»» Cf. Guishro' Chat lul. (Surt. Soc), ii, 

 282, 327-8 n. 



^' See Hart manor. Tradition relates 

 (sec Hart) that Robert de Bi us I enfeoffed 

 his younger son Robert of the manor of 

 Hart, and what scanty evidence there is 

 supports the supposition that the elder 

 branch never held Hart in demesne (see 

 Guisbro^ ChoTtuL [Surteci Soc. ], ii, 322—3, 

 324). In this case Adam de Brus must 

 have granted his charter to the burgesses 

 as o\erlord. 



^'' Rot. Chan. 1 199-1216 (Rec. Com.), 

 86 ; Pipe R. 3 John, m. 12. An early 



270 



reference to burgage tenure occurs in a 

 charter of Robert de Brus, before 1191, 

 in which he granted a mantura in Hartle- 

 pool with houses and toft and two fishing 

 boats to the monks of Durham in free 

 alms quit of every custom and service 

 which might be exacted from land or 

 burgage (Farrer, Early Torks. Ckarterif 

 ii, 8). 



^^ See Hart parish and below. 



'* Pipe R. 3 John, m. 18. 



'» Rat. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), I, 

 217. 



39 Cal. Doc. o/Scotl. i, 123. 



