Normanby, Redcar and Cleveland

Housing west of Normanby High Street shops

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Normanby like this:

NORMANBY, a village and a township in Ormsby parish, N. R. Yorkshire. The village stands 2 miles (3.2 km) N E of Ormsby r. station, and 4 W N W of Guisborough; and has a post-office under Middlesbrough. The township extends to the coast; and comprises 1, 343 acres of land, and 355 of water. Real property, £7, 949; of which £4,060 are in iron-works. Pop. in 1851, 195; in 1861, 2, 204. Houses, 397. The increase of pop. arose mainly from the opening of extensive ironstone works, and from the establishing of glass furnaces. Norman by Hall is a chief residence. Bricks and tiles are made. There is a national school.

— John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales[5]

Normanby is part of Redcar parliamentary constituency and is represented by Jacob Young (politician) (Conservative Party (UK)) in the House of Commons.[6]

Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park Visitor Centre

Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park[8] is an area of woodland in Normanby, sheltered from the urban sprawl below in the Tees Valley. It provides residents with a place to walk and exercise. It aims to give a 'countryside experience' without a long journey to reach it.

There is a visitors' centre – which stands on the site of the former Normanby Brickworks. Some of the walkways in the park follow the course of the now defunct Cleveland Railway, which served the brickworks. The visitors' centre has exhibits and information about wildlife and conservation, as well as serving as a base for the information-giving Ranger.

The park boasts a variety of habitats, including both deciduous and coniferous woodlands, grassland and ponds. There are plenty of walks throughout the wooded areas of the park, an outdoor exercise area and a children's playground. There is a network of bridleways which cyclists and horseriders are welcome to use.

In the past, Flatts Lane veered from its present route and crossed the land now occupied by the Country Woodland Park. It was used by monks, farmers and traders to carry goods between markets and coastal ports. The cobbled path can still be seen in some places as it runs across the site. Godfalter Hill is a prominent landmark topped by its distinctive beech trees making it visible for miles around.[9]

Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park, in Normanby, is an easy starting point for walks to Eston Nab; the path leading to the high ground of Eston Moor forms a less severe incline than more popular routes from Eston. It is also on the long-distance path called the Tees Link;[10] the path travels along the route of a former railway which served Normanby Brickworks.

Normanby Hall, in a state of disrepair.

Normanby House is now known as the Manor House and serves as a doctors' surgery.

Normanby Hall[11] is a mansion on the western side of Normanby. The manor of Normanby was held at an early period by the de Brus family, of Skelton Castle; and subsequently passed to Marmaduke de Thweng. Later it came into the possession of the Percys, and then, of the Moneys.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the estate belonged to William Pennyman, Esq. When he died, in 1718, buried at Eston Church, his daughters Elizabeth and Joanna, married two brothers – Rev. William Consett and Captain Matthew Consett, sons of William Consett of Linthorpe.

The manor lands were split, Reverend William Consett taking the eastern part of the estate, upon which he built the elegant and commodious Normanby House, which became known as the Manor House.[12] The other brother, Captain Matthew Consett, took the part of the manor with the ancient Hall.[13]

The Hall with a moiety of the estate was purchased in 1748, by Ralph Jackson, on the death of Captain Consett. The common fields around it were enclosed, in 1790, to become parkland for the mansion. It descended through the Jackson family, in the late 1880s, to Major Charles Ward-Jackson M.P., who was lord of the manor, and who died in 1930.[14]

In the twentieth century, it came into the hands of Charles Amer, a former jazzband leader (Charles Amer Orchestra), Middlesbrough F.C. Chairman, owner of the Coatham Hotel, in Redcar, the Marton Hotel and Country Club and, later, property developer. Amer later sold the parkland belonging to the Hall and houses were built. The Hall itself, after several years as a retirement home, is now unoccupied and in a state of disrepair.

Zoe's Place logo

Normanby is home to Zoë's Place, one of only two baby hospices in England.[15] It offers palliative and respite care for babies and infants up to five years old, who have life-limiting or terminal illnesses.

It was opened by Ann Widdecombe in 2004. The hospice occupies the former Crossbeck Convent which was bought in 1919 to serve as a home to the Catholic religious community of the Sisters of Mercy.

There is a cricket club, Normanby Hall Cricket Club, alongside Normanby Hall.[16] It is a member of the England and Wales Cricket Board and has teams competing in the North Yorkshire & South Durham Premier Division, Division 1 and Sunday Division 1. At junior level, teams compete in under 11, under 13, under 15 and under 17 sections.

Normanby United Football Club was founded in 1905, it later became known as Eston United. The club was dissolved in 1927.

• Charles Ward-Jackson – Conservative Party MP, inherited Normanby Hall. Served as a Major in the Second Boer War and First World War.
• John Raybould (born 1934), first-class cricketer
• Rob Smedley – Former Head of Vehicle Performance Williams Grand Prix Engineering[17]

• Marske Hall
• Ormesby Hall

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Normanby, Redcar and Cleveland.

• Normanby history group website