Homes for Rent
Ironstone mining caused a population explosion in Cleveland. Mine owners and developers built new houses, ready to rent to the miners who came here to work.
A model village
Quaker mine owners Pease & Partners turned a handful of fishermen’s cottages in Skinningrove into a well-planned ‘model village’ in the 1870s. It had 150 houses with good drainage, a school and a miners’ hospital.
An overcrowded place
Independent developers built the houses at nearby Brotton. In 1872, it was described as ‘the mother of disease in Cleveland’. Up to twelve people lodged in two-bedroomed houses, and the streets were often ankle-deep in mud.
Strict rules
A miner and his family could stay rent-free in their house if he had an accident in the mine and couldn’t work. But they had to move out straight away if the miner left his job.
What is in this case?
- Kettle Tea was the miner’s drink of choice to take to work. It was drunk cold with their lunchtime ‘bait’.
- Mincer Many families had their own meat mincer. Mr Harker of Brotton said, ‘We were never badly fed because every miner had a pig.’
- Singer sewing machine Sewing machines were a valuable tool for making and mending clothes and bedding. They were heavy, bulky machines until Singer created sleeker models and became a global brand.
- Jelly moulds ‘If it was some special birthday, Mother used to make a bit of custard and jelly and that was our treat... and maybe a bit of seed cake,’ remembered Mr Gibson of Loftus.
- Oxo box Oxo stock cubes were developed by a German chemist who wanted to reduce meat waste. They were very popular, and the distinctive tins became sewing and nail boxes in many homes.
- Whisk There were no electrical kitchen aids in the miners’ homes. Everything, from whisking to washing, was done by hand.
- Miss Tuxford’s cookery book ‘Most people baked everything themselves. To go and buy that sort of thing from the shop meant you were lazy or extremely wealthy,’ Mr Ramage of Brotton recalled.
- Coupons Working families collected coupons, which helped save money on the weekly shop.