Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England, north of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

, Thornaby falls within the

Borough of Stockton-on-Tees The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority area in England with borough status in County Durham and North Yorkshire. In 2021, it had a population of 196,600. Its main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stockton-on-Tees, which ...

and the

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland ...

area. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census. The town was incorporated as a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1892, during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. The borough was abolished in 1968 on the creation of the

County Borough of Teesside The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near t ...

. A civil parish called Thornaby was re-created in 1996. The modern centre was built on the north eastern part of Thornaby airfield and lies south-east of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

and south-west of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

History

Prehistoric

There are other signs of Thornaby being a much older settlement. Traces of prehistoric man have been found, the earliest being a stone axe, 8 inches long, dating back to the

Mesolithic Period The Mesolithic ( Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonym ...

(about 3000 BC). In 1926, a

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...

said to date from about 1600 – 1400 BC was found in the mud under of water opposite Thornaby High Wood. An

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

of the

Neolithic Period The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

(about 3000 BC) was found in a garden on Thornaby Village Green.

Danes

The name Thornaby came into existence about AD 800 when the land was given by

Halfdene Halfdan ("half Dane") is an Old Norse masculine given name. In ''Beowulf'' it is spelled Healfdene, and in Latin sources Haldan. It may refer to: Mythical figures: * Halfdan, legendary king of the Scyldings in Beowulf, who also appears in Norse my ...

(Halfdan Ragnarsson), King of the Danes, to Thormod, one of his noblemen, hence "Thormods-by" – Thormod's farmstead. Although the -by suffix originally meant a farmstead, many of these grew into villages, taking the -by suffix with them in their names as with other villages in the area, such as Danby, Faceby, Ingleby, Maltby and Ormesby. During the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

(1066), one of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

's noblemen,

Robert I de Brus Robert I de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale and 1st Lord of Skelton (–1141), was an early-12th-century Anglo-Norman lord and the first of the Bruce dynasty to hold lands in Scotland. A monastic patron, he is remembered as the founder of Gisboroug ...

, marched north with a garrison of men and occupied the area of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. William gave him those lands to control including

Thornaby Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the River Tees, Thornaby falls within th ...

and

. King

Sweyn II of Denmark Sweyn II ( – 28 April 1076), also known as Sweyn Estridsson (, ) and Sweyn Ulfsson, was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1076. He was the son of Ulf Thorgilsson and Estrid Svendsdatter, and the grandson of Sweyn Forkbeard through ...

, on 9 September 1069, defeated the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

by killing the entire garrison of 3,000 men.

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

swore an

oath Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...

to take revenge on Sweyn by destroying every house and dwelling in the lands under Sweyn's rule, leaving all the land in the north east of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

barren and bare. In the ''Domesday Book'' Thornaby is mentioned five times, Thornaby's first mention in the ''Domesday Book'' states:- ''"Robert Malet has these lands and they are waste."'' It appears that they remained undeveloped until the early 19th century as ''"Thurnaby waaste"'' is mentioned in a poem by Tennyson called ''"The Northern Farmer."''. Over the centuries there have been a number of different spellings of the name Thornaby including Turmozbi, Tormozbi, Tormozbia and Thurmozbi. The form Thornaby first appears in 1665 and refers to old Thornaby village, south western area of the present town which is near the

as it flows north east.

The Five Lamps of St Peter's Church

It is said that Robert de Thormodbi, wounded in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, swore to raise a

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

if he survived his wounds. He did, and as part of his wish a shrine niche to the Virgin Mary, lit by five

sanctuary lamp Chancel lamp in the Rotunda of Mosta, Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, Malta A sanctuary lamp, chancel lamp, altar lamp, everlasting light, or eternal flame is a light that shines before the altar of sanctuaries in many Jewish and ...

s, was placed in St Peter's Church.

A town from the marshes

In 1825, old Thornaby was centred around St Peter's Church and the old

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

. Thornaby Carrs (marshes) had been a site of intermittent horse racing before moving to the now former Stockton Racecourse after the River Tees was straightened in 1810, a short distance down stream. From 1825, industry started to be built south of Stockton's existing port industry as

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...

had been established, old Stockton railway station being just on the other side of the bank. The first site was William Smith's pottery with the area quickly growing with shipbuilding and engineering companies established on the marshes. From 1840 until June 1987 heavy engineering firm Head Wrightson was a major employer in Thornaby. The area developing on the south bank of the Tees opposite Stockton was initially known as South Stockton. As Stockton's port industry moved to Middlesbrough, shipbuilding was replaced by iron works. A new railway line opened up the area south of the river for further development, with a South Stockton railway station built in 1882. The new settlement grew as a work force for new industry, spreading south down and between Thornaby Road, the new Westbury Street, and Mandale Road (once known as Acklam Road). The built-up area of South Stockton grew to merge with the old village of Thornaby; on 6 October 1892 South Stockton and Thornaby formally merged to form a

which was named Thornaby-on-Tees. South Stockton station was renamed to Thornaby.

Thornaby Town Hall Thornaby Town Hall is a municipal building in the Mandale Road in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The building, which is owned by Thornaby Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. History In anticipation of the proposed merger o ...

was built for the old South Stockton Local Board, and was completed in 1892 a few months before the board was replaced by the new borough council.

The airfield, 608 squadron and Spitfires

The earliest known flying in Thornaby took place in 1912 when Matthew Young of the Vale Farm was paid 100

Gold Sovereign The sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (£1) and contains of pure gold. Struck since 1817, it was originally a circulating coin that was accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the world; it is now a ...

s for the use of a field for an airshow. Taking place on a Saturday afternoon in June or July, one of the main events was flying by

Gustav Hamel Gustav Wilhelm Hamel (25 June 1889 – missing 23 May 1914) was a pioneer British aviator. He was prominent in the early history of aviation in Britain, and in particular that of Hendon airfield, where Claude Graham-White was energetical ...

, an early flying pioneer. The next known use was by the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

who used the same fields between 1914 and 1918 as a staging post between Catterick and Marske aerodromes. In about 1925 negotiations began on the opening of a full-time aerodrome and in the late 1920s the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

constructed an airfield to the south of the town and the station which was the second permanent aerodrome to be built in Yorkshire (the first being Catterick) was opened on 29 September 1929. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Thornaby came under the control of 18 group,

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

, before this however it had come under Flying Training, Fighter and

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

s, and post-war under Reserve and Fighter Commands, at this time (post-war) it was also used by the

Royal Air Force Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

. During the war a variety of tasks were carried out from

RAF Thornaby Royal Air Force Thornaby, or more simply RAF Thornaby, is a former Royal Air Force Station located in the town and borough of Thornaby-on-Tees, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Fighter Command, Bomber Command and Coastal Command a ...

, such as, attacks on targets in Europe, anti-submarine patrols, operational training, strikes against enemy shipping, leaflet dropping and air sea rescue operations. 608 (North Riding) squadron Of all the squadrons to have been based at RAF Thornaby during its operational period, "Thornaby's own" 608 (North Riding) squadron is probably the squadron best remembered by the townsfolk. It was formed at Thornaby on 17 March 1930 and went on to serve within both Coastal and Bomber Commands during the Second World War. After the war, on 10 May 1946 the squadron was re-formed at Thornaby and carried on in Reserve Command "at home" until the squadron disbanded for the last time on 10 March 1957. 608 (North Riding) Squadron's Standard, which was approved by the Queen and bears their battle honours, can be seen housed in

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

under the Astronomical Clock where it was laid-up on 14 November 1959. The numerous items of glass and silverware which were presented to the squadron during their service are held by Middlesbrough Council, are housed in

Middlesbrough Town Hall Middlesbrough Town Hall is a municipal facility located in Albert Road in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The current building was commissioned to replace an Old Town Hall in the Market Plac ...

and are to be returned to the squadron should it ever re-form.

Acquiring inland areas

The last R.A.F aircraft to leave the airfield ( Hawker Hunter F6s) left on 1 October 1958 and further use of Thornaby as a regional airport on 23 February 1962 ended when all but of land was purchased from the Air Ministry by Thornaby-on-Tees Borough Council. As Thornaby changed hand to the

(1968–1974) then, after Stockton Councils third attempt at trying to annex the town, into the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees (this was initially as a district of Cleveland county). Development in the 1960s and 1970s on transforming the airfield, demolishing its buildings, into housing, shops, offices, a sport centre and a light industrial estate, the light industrial estate was the first in the wider area and therefore called Teesside Industrial Estate. Many symbols of Thornaby's aeronautical past were placed for prosperity with streets (such as Allensway), buildings and public houses using names of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

aircraft, stations and personnel. The Bader School (built on the former airfield) on Kintyre Drive was named after and opened by Sir

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

on 10 November 1971. In 1976 a stained glass window in St Paul's Church on Thornaby Road was dedicated to the RAF at Thornaby and in 1997 a statue was erected on Thornaby Road, it is dedicated to all who served at RAF Thornaby. The Spitfire on Thornaby Road

In 2007 a full-size replica

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

aircraft was erected on the roundabout at the junction of Thornaby Road, Bader Avenue and Trenchard Avenue. Hidden beneath the roundabout is part of a runway (one of three) which used to run east to west.

Rise and fall of Pavilion towers

Thornaby town centre declined post war with deindustrialation and the town's population centre shifting south east on to the old airfield. Facilities followed as the new Pavilion shops opened and the old centre cut off by the A66. The former Industry around the old Thornaby Carrs centre became Teesdale Business Park leaving the station and town hall out of place in the new surroundings. In the late 2000s, Thornaby Pavilion was designated as the new town centre. Housing around the shops were cleared and new shops built opposite the older shops to form a pedestrian high street. An official relaunch event was held in the now Thornaby town centre on 25 April 2009. High rises flats in the town centre have been demolished and with the towns fund, they are plans for the former Npower offices site are planned to be demolished and a replacement for Thornaby Pool, an indoor baths on Thornaby Road, built in its place. The former Golden Eagle Hotel is also to be demolished.

Community and culture

Thornaby won a number of awards in 2008; the silver gilt award for best small cities, Northumbria in Bloom, which was repeated in 2011. Thornaby Cemetery had ''Cemetery of the Year'' award in 2006. The cemetery had lost then lost its

Green flag award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

until 2011. On 10 November 2011 an R.A.F. Search and Rescue Sea King Helicopter paid a three-hour visit to Bader primary to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sir Douglas Bader opening the school. The day of activities included a visit by representatives from RAF Leeming, the Commanding Officer at Catterick Garrison, Middlesbrough Armed Forces Careers Office and the Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team. Thornaby held its eleventh

Yorkshire Day Yorkshire Day is a yearly celebration on 1 August to promote the historic county of Yorkshire, in England. It was celebrated by the Yorkshire Ridings Society in 1975, initially in Beverley, as "a protest movement against the local governmen ...

event in August 2017. The annual Thornaby Show takes place at the beginning of September, it is estimated that more than 10,000 people turn up over the course of the day. In January 2014 a McDonald's and Asda opened on the site of the former Tristar Neasham site. Teesside Park is the location of a shopping park which occupies a former racecourse.

Demographics

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Thornaby, at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

(town) and

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

level: Thornaby Town Council and

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, which straddles the ceremonial county, ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire in England. Since 1996 the co ...

. The borough council is also a constituent member of the

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the Combined authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in North East England consisting of the following five Unitary authority, unitary authoriti ...

, which is led by the directly elected Mayor of Tees Valley. The town council is based at the Town Hall on Mandale Road.

Administrative history

Thornaby was historically a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Stainton in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

. A

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

called South Stockton was established covering the northern part of the township in 1863, governed by a local board. In 1874 the district was enlarged to take in an area including Stockton Racecourse to the east of the original district. This area formed part of the parish of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, but had been cut off from the rest of Stockton-on-Tees when the River Tees had been straightened in 1810. The South Stockton local government district then straddled Yorkshire and County Durham until 1887, when the county boundary was also adjusted to follow the straightened course of the River Tees, after which South Stockton was again entirely in Yorkshire. In 1892 the South Stockton Local Board was abolished when a

was created covering the whole township of Thornaby, with the new borough being named "Thornaby-on-Tees". It was amalgamated with other areas in 1968 to form the

county borough of Teesside The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near t ...

. In 1974, the town became part of the enlarged Stockton-on-Tees district of

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government. The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and ...

. ''Thornaby Town Council'' was created in 1995. Cleveland county was abolished in 1996 under the Banham review. In 1997 the parts of the abolished county of Cleveland south of the

, including Thornaby, were placed in

for ceremonial purposes. Thornaby Town Hall - geograph

In 2012 the town council purchased

from the borough council for restorations. The hall, dating back to 1890–92, had been unoccupied since the 1968 county borough of Teesside amalgamation. It is now the main building used by Thornaby Town Council.

Religion

Church of England

The

Church of St Peter ad Vincula The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula ("St Peter in chains") is a Chapel Royal and the former parish church of the Tower of London. The chapel's name refers to the story of Saint Peter's imprisonment under Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem. Situate ...

on the village green is of 12th-century origin but a place of worship existed at the time of 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' of 1086. The unusual dedication to St Peter ad Vincula (''"St Peter in chains"'') is derived from the ancient

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

San Pietro in Vincoli San Pietro in Vincoli (; Saint Peter in Chains) is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy. The church is on the Oppian Hill near Cavour metro station, a short distance from the Colosseum. The name alludes to the Bibl ...

in Rome. The building, with a simple

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a bell turret with two bells, was originally dedicated to

St Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

. Grace Pace, the mother of

Captain James Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

, was baptised at St Peter's in 1702. The larger St Paul's serves most of the town.

Sport

Acklam Road

Thornaby Cricket Club is situated at Mandale Bottoms ( Acklam Road) and has been in existence since 1892. The main teams are 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 County of Durham, Durham, England. The league was founded as lon ...

. Teesside Golf Club opened in 1901. It is in of the Teesside and District Union of Golf Clubs and therefore the Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs Thornaby FC play in the Northern League Division one. It was established as 'Thornaby' in 2000. The club play at Teesdale Park ground, Acklam Road.

Thornaby Road

Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick Football Club (TIBS FC) play in the North Riding Football League division one, it was established in 1997. The club play at a grounds off Thornaby Road and train at Conyers School.

Transport

Rail

The town is served by

Thornaby railway station Thornaby, originally South Stockton, is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated south-west of Middlesbrough, serves the market town of Thornaby-on-Tees, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in Nort ...

, operated and owned by Northern, who operate rail services to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

and

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

TransPennine Express TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...

provides direct rail services to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

. LNER also provides a direct rail service to

and London Kings Cross

Road

Thornaby is served by *the A19 to the town's east heading north–south * A66 to the town's north heading west/ east and * A174 heading south east to

. Public Services

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, 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 Kingdom. ...

and

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

provide bus services to Thornaby and

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

and Megabus operate coach travel from Middlesbrough bus station.

Media

Television

Regional television services is provided by

BBC North East and Cumbria BBC North East and Cumbria is one of the BBC's BBC English Regions, English regions covering Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside, City of Sunderland, County Durham, Northumberland, north and mid Cumbria and parts of N ...

and

ITV Tyne Tees ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a convert ...

. The local based-television station TalkTeesside also broadcast to the town.

Radio

Local radio stations are

BBC Radio Tees BBC Radio Tees, formerly known as BBC Radio Teesside, BBC Radio Cleveland and then BBC Tees, is a BBC local radio station broadcasting from Broadcasting House, Newport Road, Middlesbrough. It broadcasts to parts of County Durham and North Yor ...

Heart North East Heart North East is a regional radio broadcasting, radio station owned and operated by Global Group, Global as part of the Heart (radio network), Heart network. It broadcasts to North East England. History Century Radio Century Radio was the ...

, Hits Radio Teesside,

Capital North East Capital North East is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to North East England. The station launched on 1 June 1999 as Galaxy 105–106, renamed in 2006 as Galaxy North East and ...

Smooth North East Smooth North East is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. It broadcasts to North East England. Overview GMG Radio ownership The licence for the station was originally awarded to ...

, Greatest Hits Radio Teesside and CVFM Radio, a community based station that broadcast from nearby

Newspapers

The town is served by the local newspaper, '' Evening Gazette''.

Education

Secondary

Thornaby is served by three secondary schools; St Patrick's Catholic College, Thornaby Academy and Westlands Academy.

College

Thornaby is home is Stockton Riverside College, a major provider of further education in the Tees Valley with around 10,000 full & part-time students. It is labelled Stockton due to it being in or near the former Stockton South settlement, which lied on the southern banks of the river Tees (Yorkshire) and merged into Thornaby on Tees.

University

Adjacent to the college is

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

's Queen's Campus. This was founded in 1992 as a joint venture between Durham and

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

universities, becoming exclusively part of Durham University in 1998. In 2019, the university moved the Queen's Campus colleges and departments to Durham city, and repurposed the campus as a new International Study Centre, run by

Study Group A study group is a small group of people who regularly meet to discuss shared fields of study. These groups can be found in a high school or college/university setting, within companies, occasionally primary/junior school and sometimes middle sc ...

Notable people

* Grace Pace (the mother of Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

). * Award-winning author

Pat Barker Dame Patricia Mary W. Barker ( Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. She is known for her Regeneration Trilogy, p ...

lived in Millbank Lane and is best known for her Regeneration Trilogy of books about the First World War, the third of which,

The Ghost Road ''The Ghost Road'' is a war novel by Pat Barker, first published in 1995 and winner of the Booker Prize. It is the third volume of a trilogy that follows the fortunes of shell-shocked British army officers towards the end of the First World Wa ...

won the 1995 Man Booker Prize. *TV-Personality

Holly Hagan Holly Victoria Hagan-Blyth ( Hagan) is an English television personality from Thornaby-on-Tees. She starred on and is best known from the MTV series ''Geordie Shore''. Early life Hagan was born in the town of Thornaby-on-Tees in Northeast Eng ...

, one of the original stars from

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

show

Geordie Shore ''Geordie Shore'' is an English reality television series that has been broadcast on MTV UK from 24 May 2011. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, it was the British offshoot of the American show ''Jersey Shore''. The programme follows the d ...

was born in Thornaby. * Actor

Richard Griffiths Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor. He was known for his portrayals of Vernon Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' films (2001–2011), Uncle Monty in '' Withnail and I'' (1987), and Henry Crabbe in '' P ...

was born in Thornaby and was best known for his role as Vernon Dursley in the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

movies and as Uncle Monty in the cult film ''

Withnail and I ''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Gra ...

''. He won many awards for his acting in the film ''The History Boys''. * Paul Curran – the championship cyclist was born in Thornaby. * Max Jones, pupil at Robert Atkinson school, was a seven-time Olympic athletics coach and was the GB Team leader at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. Max was the Performance Director for UK Athletics 1997 to 2005. * Norma Farnes was born and grew up in Thornaby. She went to London and ended up as Spike Milligan's and Eric Sykes's manager. Norma has edited and written several successful books.

References

External links

Thornaby Town Council

Thornaby Community Information

Thornaby Amateur Swimming Club

St. Patrick's Catholic College

Thornaby Academy

Thornaby Football Club

Thornaby Cricket Club

Thornaby's Mandale and Victoria Resident's Group

Thornaby's Village Park Resident's Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornaby-On-Tees Towns in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Places in the Tees Valley Borough of Stockton-on-Tees