Headland Event Space

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Nestled beneath the Headland Town Moor with a view out to the North Sea and overlooked by the Heugh Battery Scheduled Ancient Monument and Museum, the Headland Bandstand site has a long history as a community and cultural event space. It is known as the Headland Bandstand in reference to a bandstand that existed until the end of the 1900s but the name now refers to the whole site.

Constructed in the late 1800s as part of the sea defence to protect old Hartlepool, the amphitheatre like area was created along with the upper and lower promenades. The heritage statement for the site includes interesting maps of the changing site and coastline through history and show that the event space was created when the sea defences were designed to infill a small cove beneath the heugh. The Headland Heritage Strategy is available here.

The images on the left firstly, show an artist impression of the scheme, animated to show scale and a suggestion of activity. The photograph image shows the Bandstand and Promenade, circa 1900.

The retaining structure that needs to be replaced is the terraced area used for seating. The north and north-west end of the terrace will be replaced with a similar pre-cast concrete terrace structure to recreate the permanent seating arrangement. The terracing towards the Heugh Battery end of the amphitheatre will be replaced by a sloping embankment with planting to suit a costal environment. The current upper terrace of seating will be returned to a sloping grassed embankment similar to the original scheme layout from the late 1800s. The original bandstand will not be replaced but its former location will be represented by a granite paving circle. The open space will mean the area is more flexible for a broad range of events.

The event space will be managed by the Council as a performance venue alongside the Borough Hall and Town Hall Theatre. The Cultural Services department will deliver open air concerts and performances and the community will be able to use the site for the community-managed cultural events well known on the Headland. The community will also be able to use it for local activities and occasions too.

Timeline:

  • In February 2020, capital investment plans for a number of sites across Hartlepool were finalised, including investment in the Headland Bandstand event space.
  • In August 2020, planning permission was granted for the replacement of the retaining structure. The commencement of works was postponed until after a feeding-season for local birds.
  • In April 2021 construction will commence on site.
  • Construction is expected to be completed in autumn 2021. Any updates on these timescales will be provided on this webpage. 

Further Information:

The Hartlepool History Now and Then website has a number of great photos of the Headland Bandstand site over the years, available here, which also show some of the entertainment and community events that were held there.

For more information on the future programming of the Headland Event Space visit Culture Hartlepool here.