There are many suggestions as to how the name Hartlepool came about, listed below are some of these suggestions:
Its seems certain that the name 'Hartlepool' was derived from 'harts' (Stags or Deer) and water.
Bede refers to is as 'the place where harts drink'. The Headland was called Heruteu, (Island of the Stag) at the time of Bede (c. 730AD.) The mediaeval town was called Hertepol (Pool of the Hart).
The Headland is the oldest part of the town. People have lived there since Saxon times, when a religious community was set up in about 640AD by Hieu, and later taken over by Hilda.
The settlement was surrounded on three sides by the North Sea, and so could be defended against invaders. First of these was the Vikings, in the ninth century, then the Scots in the twelth century.
The ancient author Hutchinson, in his work on Northumberland, suggests that the name refers to the 'island of harts' - apparently a wooded peninsula which was cut off from the mainland at high tide. This possibly refers to the headland which is on a spur of land and could quite easily of been cut off many years ago.
(Image above: bronze stag, Hartlepool Marina)
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