Itinerary Planner

The Way of Love – Bitesize Walk One

St Hilda, the Georgians and Naval Bombardment. 

Distance: 1-2 miles

Start: The Headland, Hartlepool      

Route: Circular walk around The Headland via Heugh Gun Battery and Town Walls

Finish: The Headland, Hartlepool

In a nutshell:

Time changes everything. First “Heruteu” then “Hertepol” and now “Hartlepool” the town’s story begins with the foundation of a 7^th century monastery. Its second Abbess was St Hilda, a pioneer of the early church.  Honing her skills at Heruteu Hilda moved to Whitby where Caedmon, England’s first named poet, benefitted from her support and patronage.

Hartlepool’s Headland still has stretches of the medieval Town Wall whilst Georgian gentility survives in its town houses. Prominent 18^th century Durham families would holiday here to “take the water”, socialise and gossip.

More poignantly, the Heugh Gun Battery witnessed the Bombardment of Hartlepool by the German Navy in December 1914. Private Theo Jones, Durham Light Infantry, became the first British soldier in World War One to be killed by enemy action on British soil.  

Why not visit: 

• The Parish Church of St Hilda, Hartlepool Headland 
• The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool