Salvation Data 0800 075 0720

Thornaby-on-Tees
Thornaby-on-Tees  Thornaby-on-Tees shown within North Yorkshire
Population	22,620
OS grid reference	NZ450180
Unitary authority	Stockton-on-Tees
Ceremonial county	North Yorkshire
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	STOCKTON-ON-TEES
Postcode district	TS17
Dialling code	01642
Police	Cleveland
Fire	Cleveland
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Stockton South
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Thornaby-on-Tees

Thornaby is said to have come into existence about AD 800 when the land was given by Halfdene, King of the Danes, to Thormod, one of his noblemen, hence "Thormods-by" - Thormod's village.

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 (about 3000 BC). In 1926 a dugout canoe said to date from about 1600 – 1400 BC was found in the mud under 8 feet of water opposite Thornaby High Wood. An arrowhead of the Neolithic Period (about 3000 BC) was found in a garden on the Thornaby Village Green.

During the Battle of Hastings (1066), one of William the Conqueror's noblemen, Robert I de Brus, marched north with a garrison of men and occupied the area of Cleveland. William gave him those lands to control including Thornaby and Middlesbrough.

The then King of Denmark, Sweyn, on September 9, 1069 defeated the Normans at York by killing the entire garrison of 3,000 men. William swore an oath to avenge Sweyn by destroying every house and dwelling in the lands under Sweyn's rule, leaving all the land in the north east of Yorkshire barren and bare.

Thornaby's first mention in the Domesday Book states:- "Robert Malet has these lands and they are waste." It appears 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, Thormozbi and Tormozbia. The form Thornaby first appears in 1665 and refers to old Thornaby village near the River Tees. In the 19th century old Thornaby, centred on St Peter's Church and the old village green was gradually overshadowed by the burgeoning new town of South Stockton. South Stockton was on the Yorkshire side of the River Tees opposite Stockton on Tees, the area originally being called Mandale it is unclear when the name of South Stockton first appeared, certainly with the arrival of the industrialists it was named "South Stockton" there is no mention of the name in any records before the 1800s. South Stockton became the site of a pottery in 1825 and quickly grew with the establishment of shipbuilding and engineering in the area. On 6 October 1892 South Stockton and Old Thornaby merged into one to form the municipal borough of Thornaby-on-Tees.

The parish church on the village green is believed to be of 12th century origin though a place of worship is said to have existed at the time of the Domesday Book, 1086. The building, with a simple nave and a bell turret with two bells, was originally dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. Grace Pace, the mother of Captain James Cook, was christened in St. Peter's Church on the village green in 1702.^{[citation needed]}

It is said that Robert de Thormodbi, wounded in the Crusades at Acre, swore to raise a shrine to the Virgin Mary if he survived his wounds. He did, and as part of his wish, a shrine niche to the Virgin Mary, lit by five sanctuary lamps was placed in St. Peter's Church.

Thornaby lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, and it was made a municipal borough of the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1892. [1]. It was amalgamated with other areas such as Middlesbrough, Redcar and Stockton on Tees in 1968 to form the county borough of Teesside, and then in 1974 became part of the non-metropolitan county of the new county of Cleveland. Although on the opposite side of the River Tees and in a different county, Stockton-on-Tees, tried many times to amalgamate with Thornaby-on-Tees but were turned down time and time again by Thornaby-on-Tees Borough Council. In 1974 when Thornaby-on-Tees no longer had a council to refuse Stockton amalgamation, Thornaby finally ended up in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees.

In 1995 Thornaby Town Council was re-formed within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees.

Cleveland County (1974-1996) was abolished in 1996 under the Banham review, with Stockton-on-Tees becoming a unitary authority and the former areas of Cleveland returned to their former counties.

The earliest known flying in Thornaby took place in 1912 when Mr. Matthew Young of the Vale Farm was paid 100 Gold Sovereigns 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, an early flying pioneer. The next known use was by the Royal Flying Corps who used the same fields between 1914 and 1918 as a staging post between Catterick and Marske aerodromes. In circa 1925 negotiations began on the opening of a full-time aerodrome and in the late 1920s the Air Ministry constructed an airfield to the south of the town and the Station opened on 29 September 1929. During World War Two, Thornaby came under the control of Coastal Command, prior to this however it had came under Flying Training, Fighter and Bomber Commands, and Post War under Reserve and Fighter Commands, at this time (Post War) it was also used by the Royal Air Force Regiment. During the war a variety of tasks were carried out from R.A.F. Thornaby, such as, attacks on targets in Europe, anti submarine patrols, operational training, strikes against enemy shipping, leaflet dropping, and air sea rescue operations. The last aircraft to leave R.A.F. Thornaby (Hawker Hunter's) left on 1 October 1958 and hope faded for the further use of Thornaby as a regional airport in February 1962 when the land was purchased from the Air Ministry by Thornaby-on-Tees Borough Council. Work began almost immediately on transforming the airfield and through the 1960s and 1970s it was extensively redeveloped with modern housing, a shopping centre, sports centre and an industrial estate (the first in the region). Today many symbols of Thornaby's aeronautical past remain, with streets, buildings and pubs using names of RAF aircraft, stations and personnel. The Bader School on Thornaby Road/Kintyre Drive was named after and opened by Sir Douglas Bader in November 1971 and in 1976 a stained glass window in St Paul's Church on Thornaby Road was dedicated to the RAF at Thornaby. In 1997 a statue was erected on Thornaby Road and is dedicated to all who served at RAF Thornaby and ten years later in 2007 a full-size replica Spitfire aircraft was erected on the roundabout at the junction of Thornaby Road, Bader Avenue and Trenchard Avenue. Hidden beneath the roundabout is part of one of the three runways which used to run east to west. Of all the squadrons to have been based at R.A.F. Thornaby during its operational period "Thornaby's own" number 608 (North Riding) squadron is probably the squadron best remembered by the townsfolk. They were formed here on 17 March 1930 and went on to carry out sterling service during World War Two within both Coastal and Bomber Commands. After the war in July 1946 the squadron was re-formed at Thornaby and carried on in Reserve Command "at home" until the squadron disbanded for the last time in 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 under the Astronomical Clock where it was laid-up in 1959. The numerous items of silverware which were presented to the squadron during their service is held by Middlesbrough Council and is housed in Middlesbrough Town Hall and is to be returned to the squadron should they ever re-form.

The town is served by Thornaby railway station, and is also home to Durham University's Queen's Campus. This campus lies on the southern bank of the Tees on the Yorkshire side in Thornaby-on-Tees, so although it is part of Durham University, it is not in County Durham. Durham University was the second University to be approached due to Teesside University (who were first approached) not having the funds available necessary to run the University.

As of 2007^[update], Thornaby is undergoing a major redevelopment and regeneration. The old Mandale Estate is being demolished and Mandale Park is being built to provide new affordable housing. The town centre has been redeveloped, and it was completed in autumn 2009, to create around 200 jobs and improve leisure, economic and environmental aspects of local life. An official launch event was held in the town centre on Saturday 25 April 2009. Since the redevelopment the interest in the town centre has significantly increased.^{[citation needed]}.

Thornaby won a number of awards in 2008; it won the silver gilt award for best small cities Thornaby Cemetery has won the green flag award and is continuing to improve after winning the Cemetery of the Year award in 2006. This was more recently lost however due to the cemetery's use by prostitutes; in response Stockton Borough Council decided to lock the gates after dark and promised a clampdown on this activity.^[1]

Teesside Park is also in Thornaby; it was formerly a horse race track and is now a shopping park.

Thornaby held its second Yorkshire Day event on 1 August 2009.

Thornaby has a very active social scene. The Pat's club is central to this, and welcomes up-and-coming bands on their legendary band nights.

Grace Pace (the mother of Captain James Cook),^[2] the novelist Pat Barker, actor, Richard Griffiths and ventriloquist, Dean Atkinson were all born in Thornaby, as well as Paul Curran - the Championship Cyclist.

Local musicians include Dean Henderson, who was known as the youngest professional drummer at the age of 15. He went on to work with many famous artists throughout his 20 year career including John Headley, Sting, Tom Jones, Mick Hucknell to name a few. He also started work at Teesbeat Recording Studio with his good friend Dimmer Blackwell. Henderson now lives in California after moving to the US after a tour with the Crazy River Band.

The Spitfire on Thornaby Road

Amos Hinton & Argyll;

In 1984 Argyll acquired the Thornaby-based Amos Hinton plc which operated 55 supermarkets under the Hintons name in the North East of England, Cumbria and Yorkshire. Although the Hintons name remained above the door, Hintons' own brand products were quickly replaced with Presto brands as well as Argyll's "Basics" low price brand.[2]

The Hintons Building in Thornaby had to be demolished due to an Arson attack in the 1990s, the site now host a mid range cost housing estate.

Thornaby is served by two secondary schools; St Patrick's Catholic College and Thornaby Community School. It is being proposed that Thornaby Community School would be replaced with an Academy as part of the governments Building Schools For The Future initiative.