The industry experienced a meteoric rise, in the space of twenty years (by 1870), and ironstone from the Cleveland part of Yorkshire was supplying 38% of the steel and iron requirements of Britain.

Ironstone workings in the area declined from the 1930s onwards because imported iron ore could be shipped in vast quantities to the quaysides at Middlesbrough and on the Tyne.

[9] Most of the ironstone collected on the Yorkshire Coast was shipped to ironworks in, and around, the Newcastle area, using sea and river transport for a large part of its journey.

In August 1850, the find of stone was proved, and by December of the same year the first shipment of ironstone, 136 tonnes (150 tons), was taken over a newly built tramway from Eston into Middlesbrough.

[22] Closures were further exacerbated by imported iron ore.[23] The last industrial operation of mining ore in the area was at North Skelton, which ended in January 1964.

The North Sea coast provides the eastern limit, whilst the Scugdale Valley down through Felixkirk to Thirsk is seen as the western border.

[30] However some stone was quarried/mined even further south than the Murk Esk valley: at Kirby Knowle, near Thirsk, workings in the Dogger Seam were explored in the 19th century, where the ironstone is known to be 6–7 inches (150–180 mm) thick.

[128] Many of the companies that were working the ironstone, also had limestone and coal ventures in other parts of the north-east region, this allowed for the iron and steelworks to proliferate on the south bank of the River Tees.

[132][133] In the North York Moors National Park, remediation ponds have been created at Six Howe and Clitherbeck, which have helped to reduce the iron pollution in local watercourses.

[134] Progressive closure of the mines also led to mass unemployment; Skinningrove was a very small fishing village, fairly isolated from the rest of Cleveland when the ironstone boom arrived.

[135] The miners' livelihoods were also affected by the slump in the early 1930s; one author noted that those who took part in the Jarrow March, were struck by an unemployment rate of 70%, in the East Cleveland ironstone communities, this was nearer 90%.

[136] The closure of the ironstone mines also left a legacy of subsidence, which unlike the coal industry, had no official framework for compensation or remediation.

However, the inspector found that it "...was now a uniquely recognisable industrial archaeological relic in East Cleveland...[and] its retention far outweighed the benefits of its removal.

"[138] In 2017, a four-year project was started to preserve the remains and provide better access to the historic sites at Rosedale and Warren Moor.

[139] Bridges on the original section of the Whitby to Pickering Railway between beck Hole and Grosmont, were renovated in 2020, with new boards by the site of Esk Valley Mine.