SOUNDING SPACE #029
Trinity Gardens, Stockton-on-Tees
Field Notes compiled by Beatrice ‘Flippers’ Lathenby, BSc
Ed. Dr Stella Barrows
INTRODUCTION and HISTORIAL OVERVIEW
Stockton-on-Tees began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement on high ground close to the northern bank of the River Tees.
The local area (within a 5-mile radius) encompasses numerous archaeological sites with remains dating from the prehistoric and Roman periods through to significant activity in the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, to post-medieval and industrial remains.
Stockton-on-Tees owes its origins to the River Tees, a feature of great economic importance to the town’s development. NISG field experiments undertaken in Yorkshire, have lifted the lid on the role of water as a stimulus and primary engine of sonic eruption.1 It is exciting to see that this is repeated across the region – if not the country.
The Stockton-on-Tees area has been a site of significant settlement for millennia. In 1982 an Anglo-Saxon burial was uncovered by children in Norton who were playing on a swing. The ground beneath their feet was worn away to reveal a skeleton, a Saxon grave of a female aged around 30 years old from over 1000 years ago, with the grave goods dating from the 5th and 6th century AD. An archaeological investigation led to the unearthing of a large Saxon cemetery on the site which contained 120 graves.
Just four miles South of the Trinity Gardens lies Quarry Farm at Ingleby Barwick, this site being the most northerly known Roman villa surviving in the Roman Empire. This points to signs that there was significant Roman occupation of the area. NOTE: Subterranean sonic phenomena have been detected in this area by NISG members, which might offer a rational scientific explanation for longstanding local folkloric reports of music from below ground, the sounds of swords, marching and horses.
Stockton was established circa 1138, and was purchased by Bishop Pudsey of Durham in 1189. The bishop had a residence in Stockton Castle, a fortified manor house. Stockton's weekly market traces its history to the early 14th century and still runs to this day. Bishop Bek of Durham granted the market charter for Wednesdays ‘for ever’. The town grew into a small but busy port, exporting wool and importing wine. Medieval Stockton-on-Tees was a small, modest-sized town, with a population of only approximately 1,000 for centuries.
[NOTE: Emanations in the environs of the Tees Barrage, an area which before recent developments was said to be a barren post-industrial wasteland (the site of Margaret Thatcher’s famous ‘walk in the wilderness’) have produced rich conversational, melodic, ambient and proto-historic sonic phenomena through the underground strata. The NISG were initially called to the Barrage to investigate reports by numerous dog walkers of sonic emanations BUT on arrival in Stockton-on-Tees an even more exciting site of emanation became apparent, and we were quickly redeployed by no less than the officials of the town council. The Trinity site offers the NISG an opportunity to record and analyse modern human interaction with the urban park landscape in an unparalleled manner to previous investigations. – SB]
TRINITY GARDENS and the HOLY TRINITY CHURCH
The area around the Holy Trinity Church was not only once a cemetery but also a cholera pit (from outbreaks in 1832 and 1849). In 1976 600 bodies were exhumed from the area.
The church was finished in 1838 built in the gothic style of the time and erected because of the growing population of the town. We presume, that as an Anglican Church there would have been the presence of bells in the building to call the congregation to worship and we have found that several of the sonic ‘hot spots’ emanate bell-like sounds. We have also identified the sound of an organ.
The church, when erected had a 200-foot spire, which despite being dismantled in 1957– but, a theory (first posited at Salisbury Cathedral by Roger Millington) was that this could this be acting as some sort of giant focusing antenna that channels electromagnetic frequencies into the ground, releasing dormant resonances in the manner of a lightning conductor? Even though the spire is long gone, this residual sonic energy may remain.
The church fell into disuse during the 1970s, in 1980s it was rented by the Greek Orthodox church who left in 1989. A fire left the building a shell in 1991. Significant efforts to stabilise the structure took place in the late 2000s and now the space is structurally secure and used for gatherings and arts festivals.
CONFLICT and BATTLE
Stockton was an important stronghold during the English Civil War. Stockton Castle supported the King against the parliamentarians, and in 1640 an agreement was signed making the River Tees a boundary between the forces of Scotland (who helped the Parliamentarians) and the King so it would stay in royal hands. Because of this conflict, numerous battles occurred in the area. The castle was captured by the Scottish in 1644, and they held it until 1646.
The castle was destroyed at the end of the Civil War on the orders of Oliver Cromwell. Only the castle barn was left standing, but some said it was already in ruins by the time Cromwell would have demolished it. A shopping centre, the Castlegate Centre, now occupies the castle area, although it is scheduled for demolition in 2022. Some locals believe the site to be ‘cursed’. [BEATRICE This is unscientific, and scurrilous rumourmongering which unless you have evidence for - and note my impatience with notions of ‘geomancy’ - please strike from the report. SB).
THE RAILWAY
In 1822, Stockton witnessed an event which changed the face of the world forever, and which heralded the dawn of a new era in trade, industry and travel. The first rail for George Stephenson’s Stockton and Darlington Railway was laid near St. John's crossing on Bridge Road. Hauled by Locomotion No. 1 (originally called ‘Active’), the great engineer himself manned the engine on its first journey on 27 September 1825. This was the world's first passenger railway, connecting Stockton with Shildon. The opening of the railway greatly boosted Stockton's economy, making it easier to bring coal to the factories; however, the port declined as business moved downstream to the much younger upstart town of Middlesborough.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway also ferried coal and other industrial goods and on inspection of the sounding space this locomotive sound of steam engines has clearly imprinted into Sounding Space #029.
INDUSTRY
From the end of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution transformed Stockton from a small and quiet market town into a flourishing centre of heavy industry.
The wider Borough, part of County Durham, has a history of mineral extraction, brick and tile production, iron and steel manufacturing, shipbuilding, engineering works and more recent chemical works, such as the new Town of Billingham (founded in the early 1920s by ICI) and the oil and chemical industry based at Seal Sands.
The River Tees has been used for transporting industrial goods since the Industrial Revolution, particularly for the shipment of coal from the Durham Coalfields and for steel industries. In the early years merchant ships left the River Tees after loading in Yarm and Stockton-on-Tees but as merchant ships became bigger, these smaller docks were superseded by bigger and deeper docks in Middlesbrough, and later even further downstream at Teesport close to the mouth of the River Tees. The emergence of the Steel industry in the late 19th century earned it the nickname "The Steel River" owing to the many steelworks that operated along the banks of the Tees.
GEOLOGY
The geology of the area shows predominantly Sherwood Sandstone (in the central area, which is an aquifer), Mercia Mudstone (to the east, which is a non-aquifer) and Permian Upper Marls (to the west, which is a non-aquifer). A dolerite dyke, known as the Cleveland Dyke, runs approximately NW to SE. The solid geology is overlaid with drift deposits of boulder clay, laminated clay, littoral sand and glacial sand and gravel.
When iron ore was discovered in the Easton Hills, Iron and steel works sprang up with blast furnaces, foundries and rolling mills constructed rapidly on the shores of the river from Stockton to the River’s Mouth.
Geological connectivity along the Tees suggests that we might expect to detect Reflection Phenomena, as geological sound ‘flows’ along the riverbed via underwater Transmission Layers. Atmospheric imprinting within the surface geology of the area is expected to be a significant influence on the background sound profile in the Sounding Space.
NOTE: there is fascinating research into post-glacial river morphology being undertaken by Dr Wolfgang Lovejoy into this field in his popular science book: Meander With Me Awhile! Adventures in Alluvium.
WHAT CAUSED THE ERUPTION EVENT?
Stockton lies on the north bank of the River Tees. The town's northern and western extremities are on slightly higher ground than the town centre, which is directly on the Tees. Stockton experiences occasional earth tremors. For example, it was the epicentre of a tremor measuring 2.8 on the Richter Scale on 23 January 2020. In some areas, the sonic vibrations were so severe that “items on the windowsill rattled and made very loud noises” and people were woken from sleep.
The NISG team hypothesise that an otherwise undetected seismic event, (perhaps triggered by significant continuous external sonic emanation such as drilling or music?) in the main centre of the town (or other place on the River) may have a direct causal link to this eruption event.
THE TEES BARRAGE & THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIVER IN THIS SOUNDING SPACE
The River Tees was tidal for 13.5 miles before the Barrage was built between Middlesbrough and Stockton. For many years the water from the river was polluted from chemical, industrial and domestic waste. The construction of the Tees barrage protects the river from flooding, pollution and the effects of tidal change.
We hypothesize that the nature of the Barrage, the river, numerous bridges and the anthropogenic sounds (such as amplified music, cheering, clapping) along the river at various local sites may be due to a ‘sonic funnel’ effect that collects local proto-historic phenomena, amplifies them and makes for some fascinating listening, although one should always be careful of potential surge conditions that might lead to harmful, or indeed embarrassing ossicular responses. [Excellent note here Beatrice! Safety first in all things and well done for not mentioning that occasion with Roger Millington and the trousers. SB].
[1] (See: Lathenby, B (2016) Getting Wet for Sonic Geology – Sub Aqua Investigations at Spurn Head Spit, Journal of Aural Investigation, 6:2, pp135-212)