Stokesley is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Hambleton District Hambleton is a local government district in North Yorkshire, England. The administrative centre is Northallerton, and the district includes the outlying towns and villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley, and Easingwold. The ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England, formerly a part of the historic North Riding of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. It lies on the River Leven. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

, of the same name, stretches north to Newby and had a population at the 2011 Census of 5,537. Stokesley is about two miles south of the Middlesbrough borough boundary and eight miles south of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

town centre. Stokesley is between Middlesbrough,

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmar ...

and Northallerton in a farming area. Local attractions nearby include Great Ayton, Captain Cook's monument and

Roseberry Topping Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near Great Ayton and Newton under Roseberry. Its summit has a distinctive half-cone shape with a jagged cliff, which has led to many comparisons with the much h ...

in the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...

National Park. The town was formerly one of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used ...

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the a ...

head towns, this was from 1894 until 1974.

History

Stokesley was granted a charter to hold fairs in 1223 by Henry III. The Pack Horse Bridge crossing over the River Leven dates from the 17th century. Its large range of building types, including fine

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...

has contributed to its character. Prominent historical features include the Mill Wheel, thought to represent the site of a mill recorded in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' of 1086. Domesday also recorded "a church and priest" in Stokesley. Stokesley Town Hall was completed in 1853.

Economy

The Co-operative supermarket at Stokesley - geograph

The historic High Street is lined with independent small shops and restaurants. Other facilities include a medium-sized Co-operative Food supermarket, showground, camping site, health centre, industrial estate, library, police and fire stations. The town has four pubs (The Queen's Head, The White Swan, The Mill and The Spread Eagle). Stokesley is also the home of Quorn, produced by Marlow Foods. There are 80 grade II listed buildings, along with four Grade II* listed buildings of special architectural or historic interest. They are the former Barclays Bank, Handyside Cottage, the Manor House and the Old Rectory.

Agriculture

The inaugural meeting of Stokesley Agricultural Society was held at the Golden Lion Hotel, now The Leven Hotel, in 1859. The hotel was also used as the law court for the area being placed between Middlesbrough and Northallerton. Stokesley Agricultural Show, first held in 1859, is held every year on the third Saturday in September. It is one of the largest one day shows in the

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

. A weekly market is also held each Friday in the main square called the Plain, a

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

also takes place on the first Saturday of each month.

Fair

A four-day fair takes place in September in the town centre. The fair spans the full length of the high street and rides such as Speed Buzz, the Extreme, Vertigo, King Frog, Cyclone and various Crows rides attend. The fair begins on Wednesday evening and runs until the Saturday, opening all day on the Saturday at the same time as the annual agricultural show which takes place on the showground.

Religion

There are three churches in Stokesley. One of these, the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Church of St Peter and St Paul, is the oldest building in town, and it is just off the Market Plain. It has a medieval tower and chancel, a Georgian nave built around 1777, colourful 20th-century stained glass and woodwork carved by the Mouseman of Kilburn.

Sport

Stokesley SC Football Club currently compete in the , which was founded in 1920. The North Riding County FA is based in the town. The county FA formed in 1881. Stokesley Cricket Club play in the

North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League, commonly abbreviated to NYSD, is the top level competition for recreational club cricket in the north of Yorkshire and south of Durham, England. The league was founded as long ago as 1892, t ...

. The local leisure centre has a swimming pool.

Transport

Stokesley is served by the

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United ...

service 28a from Middlesbrough every hour and the 81 from Marske Estate every hour. Abbott's of Leeming run services 80/89, which run every two hours. The services operate six days a week towards Northallerton and Romanby via Osmotherley. Stokesley was served by rail and had a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

and some sidings, on the Stockton-Picton-Battersby-Whitby branch. The station closed to passengers in June 1954, pre-dating the large scale closures of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

. Goods facilities remained until August 1965 when the line closed completely. The station featured in

British Transport Films British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport. Its work included internal training films, travelogues (extolling the virtues of places that could be visited via th ...

' "A Farmer Moves South" in 1951. The nearest railway station is now at Great Ayton.

Education

Historic schools include Preston Grammar School in College Square: now a pizza takeaway. In 1918 it was closed for failing to reach the standards of an inspection; primarily caused by lack of funds. In general, children who passed exams at 11 years old, then went to Yarm Grammar School, with some

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

pupils going to Middlesbrough under the old system. Stokesley Primary School was created in 1908 and extended in 1973. It has about 550 pupils.

Stokesley School Stokesley School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1959''The Buildings of England Yorkshire The North Riding'', N. Pevsner, Penguin Books, 1966 as seconda ...

, was opened in 1959''The Buildings of England Yorkshire The North Riding'', N. Pevsner, Penguin Books, 1966 for pupils between 11 and 18 was originally a secondary modern and became a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...

in the 1970s. Later a

sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate ...

was incorporated. It has, at present, about 1,700 pupils. Alumni of Stokesley School include Labour politician Alan Milburn, 1988

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

runner Louise Stuart and Sky Sports News journalist and presenter David Jones.

Notable people

* John Coates (1828–1870), cricketer *

Jonathan Ruffer Jonathan Ruffer DL (born 17 August 1951) is a British City investor, art collector and philanthropist. Early life Jonathan Ruffer was born on 17 August 1951 in London, England, to Major John Edward Maurice Ruffer (1912-2010) and Dorothy ("Dodo ...

, financial expert, author, philanthropist

References

Videos

* ''A Scrapbook of Stokesley'', The Stokesley Society 1998 * ''A Walk Round Old Stokesley wit
Maurice Wilson
', The Stokesley Society 1995

External links

Stokesley Info - Website for Stokesley and surrounding area new to 2011

Official Website

The website of the Stokesley Heritage Group
{{authority control Towns in North Yorkshire Market towns in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Hambleton District