Editing Hartlepool (section)

===Town on the heugh===
{{see also|Headland, Hartlepool}}
A [[Northumbria]]n settlement developed in the 7th century around [[Hartlepool Abbey|an abbey]] founded in 640 by [[Saint Aidan]] (an Irish Christian priest) upon a headland overlooking a natural harbour and the North Sea. The monastery became powerful under [[St Hilda]], who served as its [[abbess]] from 649 to 657. The 8th-century [[Northumbria]]n chronicler [[Bede]] referred to the spot on which today's town is sited as "the place where deer come to drink", and in this period the Headland was named by the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] as ''Heruteu'' (''Stag Island''). Archaeological evidence has been found below the current high tide mark that indicates that an ancient post-[[Last Glacial Period|glacial]] forest by the sea existed in the area at the time.<ref>'England's North East' website, {{cite web|url=http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/Hartlepool.html|title=History of Hartlepool|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815115125/http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/Hartlepool.html|archive-date=15 August 2009|access-date=2008-11-11}}</ref>

The Abbey fell into decline in the early 8th century, and it was probably destroyed during a sea raid by [[Vikings]] on the settlement in the 9th century.<ref name="LocHistHart" /><ref name="HistUKHart">{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.uk.com/history/hartlepool-brief-history/|title=Hartlepool – a brief history|publisher=History UK|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923075209/http://www.history.uk.com/history/hartlepool-brief-history/|archive-date=23 September 2010|access-date=8 June 2010}}</ref> In March 2000, the archaeological investigation television programme ''[[Time Team]]'' located the foundations of the lost monastery in the grounds of St Hilda's Church.<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/archive/2000hart.html Channel 4 – ''Time Team''<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104210714/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/archive/2000hart.html|date=4 November 2010}}</ref> In the early 11th century, the name had evolved into ''Herterpol''.