Hell Kettles - Izeria

The Hell Kettles are a pair of deep pools near Darlington in County Durham, England. They are a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

1. Location

The site, which lies on the floodplain of the River Tees, to the south of Darlington, is situated alongside the A167, about 1 mile south of the junction of that road with the A66.

1. Origin

The Kettles were formed as a result of catastrophic subsidence in 1179. The Permian rocks underlying the area include substantial thicknesses of evaporites—gypsum and gypsiferous mudstone—and subsidence resulting from subterranean dissolution of these beds is a frequent occurrence, though the scale of the Hell Kettles subsidence is exceptional. Surface runoff and seepage from calcareous springs has created the two pools, one of which is the only body of spring-fed open water in County Durham. There were originally four subsidence depressions, but one filled in and two are now linked in a pond aptly named "Double Kettle". The name "hell kettle" is often applied to ponds that are popularly believed to be bottomless. These particular ponds are mentioned in Holinshed's Chronicles:

There are certeine pits, or rather three little pooles, a mile from Darlington, and a quarter of a mile distant from the These banks which the people call the Kettles of hell, or the diuels Kettles... It has been suggested that the Kettles may have inspired the scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in which Alice tumbles down a rabbit hole.

1. Ecology

Despite their proximity, the two pools differ ecologically. "Double Kettle" is fed by surface runoff and its water is turbid, supporting only an impoverished surface vegetation of pondweeds, including the alien Canadian pondweed, Elodea canadensis; it is fringed mainly by common reed, Phragmites australis, with some saw-sedge and common club-rush, Scirpus lacustris.

To the south, the smaller "Croft Kettle" is fed by calcareous subterranean springs and its clear water supports a luxuriant growth of stoneworts; its fringing swamp is dominated by saw-sedge, Cladium mariscus, creating a vegetation type similar to that of the fens of East Anglia and which is found nowhere else in County Durham. The area around the ponds is mainly damp grassland, with a rich variety of sedges, Carex spp.

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

Aldbrough Beck

Aldbrough Beck is a small beck in North Yorkshire, England. The beck starts near Eppleby, in the Richmondshire district, and flows southeast, joining the Mary Wild Beck. It passes under a packhorse bridge while passing through Aldbrough St John. One mile further on the stream becomes known as Clow Beck and flows seven miles more, joining the River Tees near Croft-on-Tees.

Landmark

Monk End Hall

Monk End House is a historic building in Croft-on-Tees, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. In the mediaeval period, a house on the site was owned by St Mary's Abbey, York. The current building may retain some 15th century material, but mainly dates from the early 18th century. At one time, the conservatory was used as a schoolroom. The house was grade II listed in 1968. In 2011, it was sold for £2.25 million, the most expensive property in the Darlington area between 2000 and 2024. The house is built of brown brick, with a dentilled eaves course and a hipped Westmorland slate roof. There is a U-shaped plan, with a main range of three storeys and five bays. In the centre of the east front is a round-arched doorway with Roman Doric three-quarter columns with fluted capitals, an entablature with paterae, a fanlight with decorative glazing, and an open pediment. The windows are sashes with flat brick arches. At the rear is a chamfered mullioned basement window, and in the left return is a two-storey canted bay window.

Historic Site Landmark

Croft-on-Tees

Croft-on-Tees is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It has also been known as Croft Spa, and from which the former Croft Spa railway station took its name. It lies 11 miles (18 km) north-north west of the county town of Northallerton.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Church of St Peter, Croft-on-Tees

The Church of St Peter, Croft-on-Tees is a 12th century grade I listed parish church in the village of Croft-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. Artefacts and carvings inside the church are believed to have given rise to many of the characters created by Lewis Carroll, who as a child, attended St Peter's in the 1840s when his father was rector of the church. The church also features in Simon Jenkins' book "England's Thousand Best Churches".

Church Historic Site