Thornaby

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The new address for Thornaby Library from March 31 2014 is:

Thornaby Library ,
Riverbank Children's Centre,
Gilmour Street, Thornaby,
Stockton-on-Tees,
TS17 6PF

History of Thornaby - view this great site also

Thornaby is said to have come into its existence about 800 A.D.when the land was given by Halfdene, King of the Danes, to Thormod, one of his noblemen.There are other signs of Thornaby being a much older or even prehistoric settlement.First of all, traces of prehistoric man have been found here, the earliest being a stone axe,8" long, dating back to the Mesolithic Period ( about 3000 B.C. ).In 1926 a dug out canoe said to date from about 1600 - 1400 B.C. was found in the mud under 8 feet of water opposite Thornaby High Wood.
An arrow head of the Neolithic Period (about 3000 B.C. )was found in a garden on the Thornaby Village Green.
Links to the Romans
Thornaby is said to have been a Roman camp but no trace is to be found.However Roman coins have been found in soil in allotment gardens and on the green. One shows ANTONINUS PIUS and is dated between 138 A.D. and 161 A.D. Another shows CONSTANTIUS 1 CHLORUS and is dated between 293 A.D. and 306 A.D.Another is from the AUGUSTIAN PERIOD (31 B.C.to 14 A.D.) and was found in blue clay under the old Jolly Farmers Inn

Domesday Book
During the Battle of Hastings (1066) one of William the Conquerors noblemen, ROBERT DE BRUS 1, marched north with a garrison of men and occupied the area of Cleveland. William gave him those lands to control including Thornaby and Middlesbrough. Sweyn,the then King of Denmark was not happy with the idea of the Normans ruling over his people in the north and so , on Sept.9th 1069 he defeated the Normans at York by killing the entire garrison of 3000 men. William swore an oath to avenge Sweyn by destroying every house and dwelling in the lands under Sweyns rule, so leaving all the land in the north east of Yorkshire barren and bare.

This is why in Thornaby`s first mention in the Domesday Book it states:- " Robert Malet has these lands and they are waste." It appears they stayed waste until the early 19 th. century as " Thurnaby waaste " is mentioned in a poem by Tennyson called "The Northern Farmer.".

More Thornaby History courtesy of the Northern Echo

Thornaby was the village settled by a Viking called Thormad or Thormoth. The letters 'by' at the end of the name signify a Viking settlement, most probably of Danish origin. Over the centuries there have been a number of different spellings of the name Thornaby including Turmozbi, Thormozbi and Tormozbia in the eleventh century. Later spellings included Thormodby, Thormodebi, Thormotebi, Thormotheby and Thormotby. The form Thornaby first appears in 1665 and refers to old Thornaby village near the River Tees. In the nineteenth century old Thornaby, centred on St Peters Church and the old village green was gradually overshadowed by the burgeoning town of South Stockton. South Stockton was on the Yorkshire side of the Tees opposite Stockton on Tees. South Stockton, became the site of a pottery in 1825 and quickly grew with the establishment of shipbuilding and engineering in the area. Gradually South Stockton grew so big that it swallowed up the little village of Thornaby. On the sixth October 1892 South Stockton and Old Thornaby merged into one to form the municipal borough of Thornaby on Tees

£3 million funding to reduce Thornaby road congestion

Tuesday, Oct 01 2013
Stockton Council has secured £3.3 million of government funding towards a scheme to tackle traffic pinch points which clog up traffic flow.
The funding which was announced by Patrick McLoughlin, Secretary of State for the Department for Transport, on Friday (27 September) will see Stockton Council carry out works to ease congestion on Thornaby Road.

Works are expected to start on the £4.8million Thornaby Road A174/A1044 Congestion Relief Scheme in May 2014 and are planned to be complete by early 2015.
The scheme will dual the A174 Parkway Extension between the A174/A1044 junction, where capacity improvements will also be made to complement the already secured Highways Agency improvements and the A19/A174 Trunk Road interchange.

In addition the combined proposals will create new access to the Teesside Industrial Estate both reducing congestion and encouraging growth.

Councillor Mike Smith, Stockton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, said: "Nationally Stockton was only one of 15 local authority schemes to win funding from this round which will see us tackling congestion alongside our partners, the Highways Agency.
"This funding will help us deal with this pinch point, ease traffic flow and make journeys quicker and smoother for residents and visitors alike.
"Improvements to infrastructure help us keep the Borough moving, which is vital to attract new businesses, encourage growth and boost job opportunities."

Old Church of St Peter - Thornaby

5 - Five Lamps of Thornaby

The legend of the lamps
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. Peters Church.
A set of lamps were erected at the junction of George Street and Mandale Road.They formed the focal point and meeting place for folk of this part of Thornaby.
They were used for meetings such as prospective council and parliamentary elections.Many an M.P. has used the plinth of the lamps to start their career on the Hustings.
The lamps were a great meeting area to see in the new year.Hundreds of folk would congregate around them and rejoice when the Town hall clock struck midnight.