The area of Eston has been settled since ancient times, an iron age settlement sits on top of the "Nab" , a rocky outcrop on Eston Hills above what is now Eston as we know it.
Eston is called Astune in some documents and is said to come from the Saxon "Ash" which ties in with the church of St Helen, there was a Saxon church on this site and the Saxons associated the Ash tree with St Helen.

In the 13th century the land around Eston was given to the Meynills ( who had the castle at Whorlton ), they gave land to Fountains Abbey and Guisborough Priory which is probably how the Grange Farm became so named.

The Meynill land passed to the D'Arcies, then the Conyers through marriage then through will to the Staypltons and Lady Hewley. The Stayplton name lives on in Eston only through the Stayplton Arms now.Lady Hewley's land was given by her to a trust which is still in operation.

In the 1850's Ironstone was discovered in the Eston Hills and several drift mines were opened triggering the Iron and Steel industry that shaped so much of Teesside.
The Ironstone mines brought in workers from all over the country to live in the Eston area, it was so much like the Californian gold rush that the area where the miners cottages were built was called California, as it still is today.