Coatham Green Through The Ages - Redcar, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Coatham Green Through the Ages

Coatham Village Green is a beautiful green space between Redcar and the North Sea, full of flora and fauna. However the green has a vibrant and intriguing history ...

The Harrying of the North - 1069

The battle of Hastings is the most famous event of the Norman Conquest. However this was only the beginning, with the Norman invasion climaxing in what is now known as the 'Harrying of the North'. In the winter of 1069 William I ordered his army to move north determined to show he would not accept any resistance. Following a continued uprising during the period he ordered the people, buildings and crops of the North of England to be brutally destroyed. Near here, at an encampment constructed on Coatham Marsh, the last body of Englishman made their stand against the Norman occupation.

It's All in the Name 12-13th Century

Coatham has been known over the centuries as Cotum (1128 AD), Oustcotum (1181 AD) and Cothm (1577 AD). Coatham suggests Anglo-Saxon origins 'coat' or 'cot' being the word for shelter and 'ham' meaning settlement. Present day Coatham is on the site of what was East Coatham and in earlier times there was also a West Coatham, which no longer exists.

Little is known about the very early days of Coatham but we do know that there was a well established Anglo-Saxon or earlier settlement which by the 13th century, was owned by the Brus family of Skelton Castle. In the Medieval period east Coatham was an important port and salt-making centre with its own annual 3-day "St Lawrence" fair and a weekly market.

The Port of Coatham 12th-18th Century

"A Fishy Tale of Salt and Smugglers!"

Archaeological digs have found evidence of rope and sail making and the edge of the medieval foreshore under the present village green. This is not surprising as Coatham was one of the chief North Sea fishing ports. In 1206 Coatham merchants had four times the trade of those in nearby Whitby.

Coatham Marsh was the home of a salt making industry with ships coming from afar bringing goods and taking away both fish and salt. Some goods were carried inland on a track from Coatham to Kikby Moorside called the "Salt Road".

From the late 17th Century high duties together with Coatham's remote location created the perfect conditions for smuggling. Tales abound of hiding places, cellars, passages and tunnels. By the 1840s Coast guards and free trade had brought smuggling to an end.

Driving Ambition - Late 19th Century

Coatham is home to Yorkshire's oldest golf course! It was established n 1887 and originally had holes on the green. The love of golf began in 1886 after Captain Williams - head of the Coastguards at Redcar - brought out a gutty ball and cleek (an older version of a golf ball and golf club) and demonstrated what could be done with them. He was showing a group of young local men who were playing hockey on the Coatham links and since that day they abandoned hockey for golf.

Taking the Plunge at Coatham 18 - 19th Century

In 1772 the 'New Inn' was built at East Coatham "For the accommodation of sea bathers". In 1777 Coatham had "bathing houses" and was described in 1795 by a London newspaper as "A watering place which in all maturity may vie with the most fashionable resorts of the age". Coatham House was let for the bathing season in 1819. A convalescent home stood next to the green. It was founded in 1860 as a Home for 30 poor, deserving convalescents requiring a change of air and sea bathing". The home was demolished in 1951.

Bombs Away
Coatham at War - 1914-18 and 1939-1945

During World War One defensive trenches and machine gun posts were built here by troops stationed in the newly built Golf Club house, which in 1915 sadly burned down.

During the Second World War Coatham Green had a garrison of soldiers, trenches, barbed wire, concrete bunkers, machine gun posts and mine fields. These were removed at the end of the war.

The Green Today - 2017

In 1938 the people of Redcar, now Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council were given ownership of Coatham Green and in 2010 it was registered as a Village Green (VG190). The Coatham Heritage Group are a local residents group that help the council maintain and protect this small and hidden gem on the North Sea coats.