This thesis addresses shortcomings in the existing body of work covering the Cleveland ironstone industry. Operating in the Cleveland area of the pre 1974 North Riding of Yorkshire between 1836 and 1964, the ironstone mines were instrumental in the transformation of Middlesbrough into a world leading iron and steel centre. Despite this, the Cleveland ironstone industry, and the impact of its growth and decline has attracted little interest outside the area. Whilst histories of many ironstone mines have been written, little attention has been paid to the associated settlements. It is argued that these settlements are an important element of industrial heritage. Studying how they have been represented and perceived over time enables conclusions to be drawn regarding the impact of industrial history has had, and continues to have on industrial settlements. An unexpectedly high level of errors and inconsistencies was encountered when establishing a list of mines and a consolidated basis for both this work and future study had first to be established. In order to draw conclusions representative of the wide range of settlement histories, five case studies were selected based on their origin, associated mine ranking and post mining history. Grosmont, Kildale and Rosedale all sit within the North York Moors National Park and are well regarded, relatively prosperous, rural places that have moved on from their industrial past. In all three cases when mining ceased the population returned to pre-industrial levels. In contrast Eston and Liverton Mines, which sit within East Cleveland, have not been able to make the same transition. Their populations have grown without the employment to sustain prosperity and they are regarded as relatively deprived, urban areas requiring repeated regeneration schemes in order to address their perceived issues
