Billingham (GB)
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Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England.
The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its own borough but was overshadowed by its neighbour.
The town was founded circa. 650 by a group of Angles known as Billa's people, which is where the name Billingham is thought to have originated. In modern history, the chemical industry, and in particular the company ICI, has played an important role in the growth of Billingham.
With the declaration of the First World War, a high demand for explosives led to a massive expansion of Billingham. In 1917, the town was chosen to be the site of a new chemical works supplying ammonia for the war. However, the plant wasn't completed until 1920, after the war had ended. The Brunner Mond Company took over the site and converted it to manufacture fertilisers. In December 1926, Brunner Mond merged with three other chemical companies to form Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), who took control of the plant. ICI began to produce plastics at Billingham in 1966.
The population of Billingham, according to the census of 1801, was 962. This number increased slowly until the beginning of World War One, when the need for nitrates to use in explosives brought about a significant burst of growth for the town. In 1917, after Billingham was chosen as the site for the production of synthetic ammonia due to its good transport links and access to the resources needed, the population of the town nearly doubled in just a few years from 4500 to 8000. After the war, the site was bought by Brunner Mond and converted for use in the production of agricultural fertiliser. Brunner Mond soon merged with a number of other companies to form Imperial Chemical Industries. This furthered the growth of Billingham's population, which reached nearly 18,000 by 1931. With the onset of World War Two, synthetic ammonia for explosives was once again in demand, further sustaining the town's development.
The original town of Billingham grew around the south side of Billingham Railway Station as it expanded it moved to the north side where most of the residential and commerce now reside.
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