Eston Nab

Eston Nab
Eston Nab from the west
Highest point
Elevation	242 m (794 ft)
Prominence	c. 0 m
Listing	(none)
Coordinates	54°33′25.82″N 1°7′20.69″W / 54.5571722°N 1.1224139°W / 54.5571722; -1.1224139
Geography
Location	Eston, Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England
Parent range	Cleveland Hills
OS grid	NZ568183
Topo map	OS

Eston Nab is a local landmark to those who live along the River Tees, in north-east England.

A nab is a rocky promontory, or outcrop, and Eston Nab, marking the highest point – at 242 metres (794 ft) – on the escarpment which forms Eston Hills, appears as a clear sandstone cliff on the northernmost edge of Eston Moor. It overlooks the town of Eston, which is part of Redcar and Cleveland, and can be seen from beyond Hartlepool on the northern side of Tees Bay.

It is the site of Bronze Age burial mounds and an Iron Age hill fort. However, regardless of all its history, to local people, the name of Eston Nab is synonymous with the monument that stands there. When families went out for a walk together – the monument at Eston Nab was the destination of choice.

Remains from the Bronze Age have been found, such as flint arrowheads, possibly date back to between 6000 and 4000 BC.

Frank Elgee, curator of the Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough, in 1927, uncovered parts of an earthenware cremation urn, together with burnt bone and flint. These possibly dated from 1800 BC.

There was a substantial Iron Age hill fort at Eston Nab. Boulder walls and ditches are still visible even though they were built in around 700 BC.

Eston Hills, of which it is the highest point, had a warren of cavernous tunnels carved into them, to create the ironstone mines that closed in 1949. They formed the original basis for the iron and steel industry on the River Tees and the building of Middlesbrough. Eston Nab featured in the film, A Century in Stone, a film about the Eston mines. The monument was shown as it was in the early 19th century.