Slapewath

Slapewath is first mentioned as Slaipwath in a document from 1222. The name derives from the Old Norse of sleipr and vað, meaning slippery ford.{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=A. H. |title=The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire |date=1979|orig-date=1928|oclc= 19714705|publisher=English Place Name Society|page=147}} Whilst traditionally being mostly in the Ancient Parish of Guisborough, the hamlet is also spread across the civil parish of Lockwood.{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/?x=462465&y=516423&z=6&bnd1=WMC&bnd2=CPC&labels=on |website=ordnancesurvey.co.uk |access-date=13 January 2024 |quote=On the left of the screen is the "Boundary" tab; click this and activate either civil parishes or Westminster Constituencies (or both), however, only two functions can be active at any one time.}}{{cite web |title=Genuki: Guisborough, Yorkshire (North Riding) |url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Guisborough#:~:text=The%20Ancient%20Parish%20of%20GUISBOROUGH&text=%22GUISBOROUGH%2C%20a%20parish%20in%20the,year%201791%2C%20dedicated%20to%20St. |website=genuki.org.uk |access-date=13 January 2024}} Slapewath is on the A171 road, some {{convert|1.75|mi}} east of Guisborough.{{cite web |title=Genuki: Guisborough Supplementary, Yorkshire (North Riding) |url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Guisborough/more |website=genuki.org.uk |access-date=13 January 2024}}

The area was developed for mining and quarrying purposes. Alum shale was first extracted and worked here to turn into alum for use as a mordant in the dyeing process of wool. Slapewath is reputedly the oldest alum quarry in Cleveland and the United Kingdom.{{cite web |title=Slapewath Works |url=https://www.teeswildlife.org/what-we-do/past-projects/alum-alchemy-and-ammonites/places-to-visit/slapewath-works/ |website=teeswildlife.org |access-date=13 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=Cleveland Way Alum Sites Guide |url=https://www.teeswildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tvwt_cleveland-sites-walk.pdf |website=teeswildlife.org |access-date=13 January 2024 |page=2}} Slapewath alum works was developed in 1604, and continued processing until the early part of the 19th century.{{cite journal |last1=Oswald|first1=Al |last2=Hunt |first2=Abby |title=Analytical field survey of prehistoric and post-medieval remains on Fylingdales Moor, North Yorkshire. Survey Report |journal=Archaeological Investigation Report Series |date=2005 |issue=12/2005 |page=23 |quote=The first successful alum works was established in 1604 at Slapewath, near Guisborough in Cleveland. |publisher=English Heritage |location=Swindon |issn=1478-7008}}{{cite book |last1=Appleton |first1=Peter |title=A forgotten industry; the alum shale industry of north-east Yorkshire |date=2018 |publisher=Boroughgate Books |isbn=978-0-9933674-1-0|page=132}} Jet was also mined/quarried here, but by the 1850s, this industry had also disappeared.{{cite thesis|last1=Bowes |first1=Ida |title=Cleveland and Teesside: a geographical study of population and occupational changes since 1800 |date=1948 |publisher=Bedford College (University of London) |location=London |oclc=1006069459|page=59}}

Ironstone was discovered at Slapewath in 1840, and this allowed a third mining industry to flourish, and the Cleveland Railway was built through the area, crossing Alumworks Beck (Spa Gill) on an eight-arch (Slapewath) viaduct.{{cite journal|last=Marley|first=John|title= Cleveland Ironstone. Outline of the Main or Thick Stratified Bed, its Discovery, Application, and Results, in Connection with The Iron-Works in the North Of England|date= 1857|volume=5|journal=Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers|publisher=North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers |location=Newcastle-upon-Tyne |oclc=7751365|page=182}}{{cite news |title=New railway in Cleveland |work=The Leeds Mercury |issue=12658 |date=4 November 1878 |page=3 |quote=It will prove a great boon to the inhabitants of the populous mining villages of Slapewath, Magra Park, Boosbeck, Skelton Green, Lingdale, New Skelton, Skelton and North Skelton|oclc=11968069}}{{cite web |title=Hidden Teesside - Slapewath Culvert - Alumwork Beck |url=https://www.hidden-teesside.co.uk/2013/01/15/slapewath-culvert-alumwork-beck/ |website=hidden-teesside.co.uk |access-date=16 January 2024 |date=15 January 2013}} Two ironstone mines were in the hamlet; Spa Wood and Slapewath, which in 1878–1879 financial year produced {{convert|60,825|tonne}} and {{convert|80,542|tonne}} respectively.{{cite news |title=Cleveland mines production |work=The Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough |issue=3805 |date=29 August 1879 |page=3|oclc=1325851880}} Whilst there was never a public railway station at Slapewath, it was capable of handling goods and was the focal point for ironstone wagons for six mines in the local area.{{cite book |title=The Railway Clearing House (London) handbook of railway stations|date=1970 |orig-date=1904 |publisher=David, Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0-7153-5120-6 |page=494}} At some point the North Eastern Railway had a locomotive shed there, although in 1870, it was moved to Brusselton Bank.{{cite book |editor1-last=Addeyman |editor1-first=John F |title=North Eastern Railway Engine Sheds |date=2020 |publisher=North Eastern Railway Association |isbn=978-1-911360-26-1|page=165}}

The hamlet has one pub, the Fox and Hounds, and is on the Cleveland Way.{{cite news |last1=Wilkinson |first1=George |title=Slapewath |url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/1233875.slapewath/ |access-date=13 January 2024 |work=York Press |date=3 March 2007}} The hamlet lies on the A171 road that connects Middlesbrough with Whitby, and has a regular hourly bus service through the day connecting the two towns.{{cite web |title=X93: Buses from Scarborough to Middlesbrough |url=https://getdown.org.uk/bus/bus/x93-winter.shtml |website=getdown.org.uk |access-date=16 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=A linear walk on the Cleveland Way from Kildale to Slapewath via Roseberry Topping-FULLY BOOKED - Ramblers |url=https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/group-walks/linear-walk-cleveland-way-kildale-slapewath-roseberry-topping-fully-booked |website=ramblers.org.uk |access-date=16 January 2024 |date=28 June 2023}}{{cite news |title=£200,000 scheme to prevent or reduce road accidents is cleared |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7104645.200-000-scheme-prevent-reduce-road-accidents-cleared/ |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The Northern Echo |date=11 July 2001}} The layby from the main road was created in 1992 when the road was re-aligned through the area to connect with the Guisborough bypass.{{cite news |title=Roadworks completed on time |work=Middlesbrough Herald and Post |issue=455 |date=6 May 1992 |page=3|oclc=751402822}}

Population statistics are covered as part of the civil parish of Lockwood, and the area is represented in the United Kingdom Parliament as part of the Middlesbrough South East Cleveland Constituency.{{NOMIS2011|id=E04000264|title=Lockwood Parish|access-date=13 January 2024}}

The viaduct, which is also known as Waterfall Viaduct, consists of eight arches, each {{convert|40|ft}} wide, straddling the small valley carrying Alumworks Beck (Spa Gill).{{cite book |last1=Hoole |first1=Ken |title=Forgotten railways, North-East England |date=1984 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0946537100 |page=68}} It is {{convert|60|ft}} high and was built as part of the Cleveland Railway to carry iron ore from the mines of Sir Lowthian Bell, to the iron works of Ralph Ward at Port Clarence. It is now a Grade II listed structure.{{NHLE|desc=Railway Viaduct, Fancy Bank, Slapewath |num=1400090 |grade=II|access-date=13 January 2024 }} Part of the reason for the listing of Slapewath Viaduct is that it is the only surviving stone viaduct in the Cleveland area. All other stone viaducts have been demolished (though those on the Loftus to Whitby Line were mostly metal anyway), with only Saltburn Viaduct being the other railway structure in the area, but this is made from brick.{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Richard |title=Richard Murphy recounts his lone quest to protect Slapewath Viaduct: Getting a structure listed |url=http://www.forgottenrelics.org/bridges/slapewath-viaduct/ |website=forgottenrelics.org |access-date=13 January 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.4&lat=54.53416&lon=-1.01289&layers=168&b=1 Map of the area from 1913]
• [https://fhithich.wordpress.com/2017/02/15/waterfall-viaduct/ Page about Waterfall Viaduct]

{{Redcar and Cleveland}}

Category:Hamlets in North Yorkshire

Category:Places in the Tees Valley

Category:Redcar and Cleveland