In the 8th-9th centuries, pilgrims traveling from Whitby Abbey on the North Yorks coast to Jarrow on the banks of the Tyne, needed somewhere to stay overnight. Hence, a small fortified building was constructed close to the (Teas) Tees which they named Middel Burgh. Later, this became Middleburgh, then Middlesborough, and today, Middlesbrough, often minimised to Middlesbro.