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Old Hartlepool is the original fishing village which existed before West Hartlepool. It is usually used to distinguish that part of the town from the “new” town of West Hartlepool. West Hartlepool then became known as Hartlepool and Old Hartlepool, wishing to keep its separate identity, began to be known as the Headland! (See town names above)

Hartlepool may not always readily accept association with Teesside, it has its own natural harbour to the north of the river, but in recent centuries its industrial history has been very closely tied up with the River Tees.

In prehistoric times Hartlepool's headland is thought to have been an isolated tidal island covered by thick forests. In the nineteenth century during excavation of the adjacent marshy area called the Slake, trunks of trees from the ancient forest were found embedded in the clay along with antlers and the teeth from deer that seem to have inhabited the area in large numbers many years ago.

Hartlepool forest is still recorded in existence in the thirteenth century. In fact the ancient Anglo Saxon name for Hartlepool was Heret eu meaning Stag Island which is a reference to either the stag's head shape of the headland or perhaps an indication that the area may have been well inhabited by forest deer.