In less than a century, Middlesbrough developed from a small farmstead
into an industrial metropolis of 90,000 inhabitants. The genesis of this
extraordinary transformation was the establishment of a new coal port on
the south bank of the River Tees. Conceived and built by its industrial
pioneers, Middlesbrough was a Victorian new town, planned on a strict
grid system. Following the discovery of ironstone in the Cleveland
Hills, this embryonic town developed into a world-leading centre of iron
and steel production, earning itself the epithet 'Ironopolis'. A product
of capitalist enterprise, Middlesbrough has a surprisingly rich
architectural heritage. From the commercial palaces of the ironmasters'
district to the superb Gothic town hall, Middlesbrough's buildings
express the civic pride and entrepreneurial spirit of its industrial
titans. The town boasts an incredible variety of churches, some designed
by the brilliantly original architect Temple Moore, as well as the only
surviving commercial building by Arts and Crafts pioneer Philip Webb.
Striding over the Tees, Middlesbrough's Herculean bridges are monuments
to the ingenuity and skill of its workers. This book is a celebration of
Middlesbrough's architectural legacy. Exploring a selection of its
finest buildings, it argues that despite the damage wrought by economic
change, wartime bombing and destructive planning decisions,
Middlesbrough retains a spectacular Victorian townscape that expresses a
history of exceptional innovation and artistry. The text is illustrated
with archival images and colour photographs taken especially for this
volume. Michael Johnson is Senior Lecturer in Design History at
Northumbria University. He is the author of The Sunderland Cottage: a
history of Wearside's 'Little Palaces' and co-author of The Architecture
of Sunderland, 1700-1914.
