Evidence of occupation in Hart can be seen from 6000 BC, with farming first appearing around 3500 BC. By 1000 BC the area is more extensively settled, including farming buildings and field systems. Activity increases around 650 AD with the establishment of St Hilda's Monastery in Hartlepool. The monastery is destroyed by Viking activity in the 9th & 10th centuries, however Viking lords continue to inhabit Hart. Robert de Brus I gained control of the area in around 1119, with control passing to the Clifford family in 1306 following Robert de Brus VII's attempt on the Scottish throne. In 1587 the parish suffered from the plague, and it was noted in the parish register that "89 corpses were buried, whereof tenne were strangers." In 1652 it was noted that John Pasmore was buried "On Black Monday 29 March. There was a star appeared in the South-east, ye sun eclipsed." In 1596, Ellen Thompson was condemned as a witch, and buried under the stile of St Mary Magdalene church at the east entrance to the churchyard. Another woman, known as Old Mother Midnight of Elwick may have been buried in the same place in 1641. Other Hart women accused of witchcraft include Helen de Inferno, and Alison Lawe. The Jesuit Thomas Ellerker was born in Hart in 1738.
The manor house and church
In the late 1100s, the de Brus family built the manor house & chapel; the latter of which remains as the basis of the present St Mary Magdalene Church. Following Robert Brus VII's attempt on the Scottish throne in 1306, the manor farm is one of the assets seized by the English authorities and given to the Clifford family. The Cliffords hold ownership until 1586 when it was sold to John Lord Lumley, and then to Sir George Pocock in 1770. In 1830, the estate passes to William Henry, Duke of Cleveland, and is subsequently inherited by Frederick Aclom Milbank, whose family owned the manor until at least 1928. Only a little of the original manor and its associated buildings can still be seen, including an 18th-century outbuilding wall, and a section of 14th century wall which is a scheduled monument. The Norman-era St Mary Magdalene Church is Grade 1 listed, and has undergone significant modification since it was first built, including a carving of St George & the Dragon on the south facing exterior wall. The church is part of the Durham Dicoese, and is a Church of England parish.
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "".
