Hartlepool

The old town was founded in the 7th century, around the monastery of Hartlepool Abbey, on a headland. As the village grew into a town, in the Middle Ages, its harbour served as the County Palatine of Durham's official port. The new town of West Hartlepool was created, in 1835, after a new port was built and railway links from the South Durham coal fields (to the west) and from Stockton-on-Tees (to the south) were created. A parliamentary constituency covering both the old town and West Hartlepool was created, in 1867, called The Hartlepools. The two towns were formally merged into a single borough called Hartlepool, in 1967. Following the merger, the name of the constituency was changed from The Hartlepools to just Hartlepool, in 1974. The modern town centre and main railway station are both at what was West Hartlepool; the old town is now generally known as the Headland.

Industrialisation and the start of a shipbuilding industry in the later part of the 19th century meant it was a target for the Imperial German Navy at the beginning of the First World War.