The East Cleveland landscape was shaped by a unique industrial process that went on here for over 250 years. This area was once the only place in the UK where Alum was produced. Alum is a chemical compound used to fix dyes, and in the preserving of leather and was pivotal in the growth of industry in the Cleveland and North Yorkshire area. The project entitled ‘Alum, Alchemy and Ammonites’ was awarded £46,300 to the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund to explore what effects this quarrying had on the landscape, and the contributions it made to industrial history and earth science.
The project has been running for two years and lots of information has been gathered. We are working to make some of it available on this website. Please keep revisiting to see the finished information and learn all about the alum industry. While we get it sorted please be patient if links do not work and pages appear blank.