Market day with Stokesley Town Hall in the backgroundThree Tuns Wynd leading from the High Street to North Road
Stokesley was granted a charter to hold fairs, in 1223, by Henry III. The pack-horse bridge over the River Leven dates from the 17th century. Its large range of building types, including fine Georgian architecture, has contributed to its character. Prominent historical features include the Mill Wheel, thought to represent the site of a mill recorded in Domesday Book of 1086. Domesday also recorded "a church and priest" in Stokesley. Stokesley Town Hall was completed in 1853.[3]
Stokesley was served by the Stokesley railway station 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. Goods facilities remained until August 1965 when the line closed completely. The station featured in British Transport Films' "A Farmer Moves South" in 1951. The nearest railway station is now at Great Ayton.
Economy
Co-operative Food Supermarket in Stokesley before refurbishment
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 five pubs (The Queen's Head, The White Swan, The Mill, The Spread Eagle and The Bank). 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.[4]
Agriculture
The market square
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 first Saturday after the third Thursday in September (sounds odd, but historically the show was held on the third Thursday in September). It is one of the largest one day shows in the northern England.[5] A weekly market is also held each Friday in the main square called the Plain, a farmers' market also takes place on the first Saturday of each month.
Fair
Stokesley Fair
A four-day fair takes place in September in the town centre. The fair stretches 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 Saturday, opening all day on the Saturday at the same time as the annual agricultural show on the showground.[6]
Religion
Stokesley Methodist Church
There are three churches in Stokesley.
The Anglican church of St Peter and St Paul
The Anglican Church of St Peter and St Paul, is the oldest building in town, and is just off the Market Plain. It has a medieval tower and chancel, a Georgian nave built around 1777. It has colourful 20th-century stained glass and woodwork carved by the Mouseman of Kilburn.[7]
St Joseph's Catholic Church
An agreement was made, in 1870, by Fr Andrew Burns, parish priest of Middlesbrough, to buy a plot of land from Henry Passman, of Hutton Rudby. Paying for the plot proved difficult, until a donation was received from Miss Apollina Bland, originally from Yorkshire, but living in Dorset. She made the stipulation that the church be named after St Joseph. The church was built and officially opened in 1873.
The early 20th century saw a steady decline in the fabric of the church, until 1944, when the first renovation took place. Italian prisoners-of-war worked with the parish priest, Fr MacDonnell, to replaster the walls and to lay a concrete floor in place of the rotting wooden one.
Further renovations took place in 1972/3, but were shortlived. A fire destroyed the roof in 1975 and the church was closed for a year.
In 2018, St Joseph’s had a major interior overhaul, guided by Fr William Charlton, parish priest.[8]
Stokesley Methodist Church
Stokesley Methodist Church is in the centre of Stokesley, on the High Street. John Wesley preached at Stokesley at least twelve times between April 1752 and his final visit in June 1790, when he was 87.[9]
Stokesley is served by the Arriva North East 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 and District Local History Study Group, Historical Glimpses of the Town of Stoxley, Stokesley and District Local History Study Group 1981
The Stokesley Society, Old Stokesley, The Stokesley Society 1983
Stokesley and District Local History Study Group, Stokesley in the 1860s: Aspects of Everyday Life, Stokesley and District Local History Study Group 1994.
The Stokesley Scene Collection, New Book, Life in a Yorkshire Market Town with a foreword by the Rt. Hon. William Hague MP "The Stokesley Scene Collection: 30th Anniversary Limited Edition", 2008.
Videos
A Scrapbook of Stokesley, The Stokesley Society 1998
A Walk Round Old Stokesley with Maurice Wilson, The Stokesley Society 1995
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