Egglescliffe

2025-08-21T22:39:57Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:3906:5D9D:E58:A6EC: /* Governance */Improved link

{{Short description|Village and civil parish in County Durham, England}}
{{distinguish|text = nearby [[Eaglescliffe]]. For context, see [[#Etymology|§ Etymology]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|official_name = Egglescliffe
|type = Village and civil parish
|coordinates = {{coord|54.512|-1.350|display=inline,title}}
|population = 8,559
|population_ref = ''(2011)''
|civil_parish = Egglescliffe (Egglescliffe and [[Eaglescliffe]] Parish Council)
|unitary_england = [[Stockton-on-Tees (borough)|Stockton-on-Tees]]
|region = North East England
|lieutenancy_england = [[County Durham]]
|constituency_westminster = [[Stockton South (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockton South]]
|post_town = STOCKTON-ON-TEES
|postcode_area = TS
|postcode_district = TS16
|dial_code = 01642
|os_grid_reference = NZ421131
|static_image_name = File:Village Green, Egglescliffe - geograph.org.uk - 485154.jpg
|static_image_caption = Egglescliffe green
}}
'''Egglescliffe''' is a village and [[civil parish]] in [[County Durham]], England.<ref>[http://www.hometownengland.com/county_durham County Durham, England's Cities, Towns, Villages and Settlements]</ref> Administratively it is located in the borough of [[Stockton-on-Tees (borough)|Stockton-on-Tees]].<ref>[http://uk.local.yahoo.com/County_Durham/Stockton-on-Tees/Councils/uk100006339-s-36191.html Councils in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham - Yahoo! Local UK]</ref>

The civil parish is in the [[Teesdale]] with a population of 8,559 at the 2011 Census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123124&c=TS16+0DX&d=16&e=62&g=6376938&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1437735521153&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=24 July 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the 2021 census the group of interconnected villages in the parish and [[Preston-on-Tees]] had a population of 10,250, in the larger village to small town classification.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/townsandcitiescharacteristicsofbuiltupareasenglandandwales/census2021|title=Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021|access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref> It has [[Egglescliffe School]] (secondary and sixth-form), a light industrial estate, two railway stations and golf club. Villages in the parish include [[Eaglescliffe]], [[Urlay Nook]], Sunningdale, Orchard and a development on the former [[Allens West]] [[British Ministry of Defence|MOD]] site.<ref name="parish">{{cite web |title=History of the Parish |url=http://www.egglescliffeandeaglescliffe-pc.org.uk/page.php?id=18 |website=www.egglescliffeandeaglescliffe-pc.org.uk |publisher=Egglescliffe & Eaglescliffe Parish Council |access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Egglescliffe.jpg|thumb|left|430px|360° Panoramic of the village green]]
The village is on top of a hill with the [[River Tees]] at the bottom, overlooking [[Yarm]] on the other bank. It had a 2001 population of around 595,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teesvalley-jsu.gov.uk/old/tvstats/Towns%20and%20Villages%20Snapshots/Stockton%20Egglescliffe.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927035859/http://www.teesvalley-jsu.gov.uk/old/tvstats/Towns%20and%20Villages%20Snapshots/Stockton%20Egglescliffe.htm |archive-date=2007-09-27 |title=Area Snapshot |access-date=2007-06-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is a [[Church of England]] [[primary school]], small kids play area, farms, [[Allotment (gardening)|allotment]]s and a [[public house]] (called the ''Pot and Glass'').

==Etymology==
''Egglescliffe'' has been characterised by [[Victor Watts]] as "a difficult name".<ref>''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. ''Egglescliffe''; {{ISBN|9780521362092}}.</ref><ref name=":0">Victor Watts, ''The Place-Names of County Durham Part One: Stockton Ward'', ed. by Paul Cavill, English Place-Name Society, 83 (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2007).</ref>{{rp|55}} The name is first attested in an 1172 copy of a 1085 charter, as ''Eggasclif''; forms containing ''l'' in the earlier part of the name, such as ''Egglesclif'', are first attested in the 1190s, but are rarer in the Middle Ages.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|54–55}} The second element of the name is certainly from [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|clif}}, "steep slope", presumably referring to the slope from Egglescliffe down to the River Tees.

The consensus among authorities in the twentieth century was that the first element came from Latin {{lang|la|ecclesia}} "church" via [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] (where the borrowing of {{lang|la|ecclesia}} is represented today by Welsh ''eglwys''). If so, the name once meant "church-slope".<ref name=":0" />{{rp|55}} However, by 2007 [[Victor Watts]] had noted that Egglescliffe is distant from other examples of more reliably attested "Eccles" names, and that the ''l'' is usually absent from the first element in medieval sources. He concluded that ''Egglescliffe'' originated with the personal name {{lang|ang|Ecgwulf}}, which had the nickname form {{lang|ang|Ecgi}}. Thus the place was routinely known both as "Ecgwulf's slope" (producing forms like ''Egglesclif'') and as "Ecgi's slope" (producing forms like ''Eggasclif''), until the former type eventually became dominant.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|56}}<ref>Victor Watts, ''A Dictionary of Durham Place-Names'', English Place-Name Society Popular Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2002), pp. 38–39.</ref><ref>Bethany Fox, 'The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland', The Heroic Age, 10 (2007), http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html (appendix at http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox-appendix.html).</ref>

Egglescliffe gave its name to their neighbouring Eaglescliffe, whose name is simply a variant of ''Egglescliffe'' produced by [[Folk etymology|folk-etymological]] adaptation of the unfamiliar ''Eggles''- to the familiar ''Eagles''-.<ref>''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. ''Eaglescliffe''; {{ISBN|9780521362092}}.</ref>

==History==
[[File:St John The Baptist Church, Egglescliffe - geograph.org.uk - 698493.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|St John the Baptist Church]]
North of the [[River Tees]] was not recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. The [[St John the Baptist, Egglescliffe|parish church]] is dedicated to [[St John the Baptist]] and there has been a place of worship on the site since the twelfth century.

[[Bishop Skirlaw]] of Durham built a stone bridge, [[Yarm Bridge]], across the Tees in 1400 which still stands. An iron replacement was built in 1805, but it fell down in 1806.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1105658|desc=Yarm Bridge Over River Tees|accessdate=13 September 2021}}</ref>

==Governance==
It was in the [[palatinate of Durham]] (the [[prince-bishop of Durham]]'s domain) from its establishment until 1836 when it became a standard type of county. 1974 reforms lead to Egglescliffe being placed under the Stockton district of [[Cleveland (county)|Cleveland county]]. The district became a unitary authority in 1996 and a part of the ceremonial [[County Durham]].

== Geography ==
{{Geographic location|Centre=Eaglescliffe|North=[[Preston-on-Tees]]|Northeast=[[Preston-on-Tees]]|East=Sunningdale|Southeast=Egglescliffe|South=[[Yarm Road]]|Southwest=Orchard|West=Orchard|Northwest=Kingsmead|title=Egglescliffe parish villages|width=50px}}
[[Image:Eaglescliffe plan.png|thumb|200px|A map of Eaglescliffe showing main roads, estates and [[Preston-on-Tees]].]]
The parish is divided by railway lines, such as the [[Tees Valley line]] and [[Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line]]. Vehicles can only get from the east to west of the parish to its far south or via the [[A66 road]].

The parish includes the villages of Egglescliffe, [[Eaglescliffe]], Sunningdale and Orchard. [[Urlay Nook]] and the former [[Allens West]] site are in development. There is also an industrial estate which includes the former Whitley Springs farm buildings.

The main road through eastern parish is the [[A135 road|A135]] ''Yarm Road'' which was part of the old route of the [[A19 road|A19]] until the 1970s when it was diverted east of [[Thornaby]]. The [[A67 road|A67]] runs through the west of the parish. Nearby large towns include [[Stockton-on-Tees]] (north), [[Middlesbrough]] (north east), [[Darlington]] (west) and [[Hartlepool]] (north east).

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
File:Egglescliffe War Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 484301.jpg|War memorial
File:Egglescliffe Parish Hall - geograph.org.uk - 485206.jpg|Parish hall
File:Cottages on Church Road - geograph.org.uk - 485149.jpg|Church Road cottages
File:Pot & Glass, Egglescliffe.jpg|Pot & Glass public house
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Egglesburn]]
*[[Eggleston]]
==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.egglescliffeandeaglescliffe-pc.org.uk Egglescliffe & Eaglescliffe parish council website]
{{Commons category-inline|Egglescliffe}}
{{Civil parishes in County Durham}}
{{stockton}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Places in the Tees Valley]]
[[Category:Villages in County Durham]]
[[Category:Borough of Stockton-on-Tees]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in County Durham]]

{{Stockton-geo-stub}}

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Egglescliffe