Stokesley

Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven. An electoral ward 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 town centre. Stokesley is between Middlesbrough, Guisborough, and Northallerton in a farming area. Local attractions nearby include Great Ayton, Captain Cook's monument, and Roseberry Topping in the North York Moors National Park. From 1894 to 1974, the town was one of the North Riding of Yorkshire's rural district head towns.

History
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.

Economy
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 Green Man). 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 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. 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
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.

Religion
There are three churches in Stokesley. One of these, the Anglican 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 local leisure centre has a swimming pool.

Transport
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 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.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from the Bilsdale TV transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Tees on 95.0 FM, Capital North East on 106.4 FM, Smooth North East on 107.7 FM, and Heart North East on 100.7 FM.

The town is served by the local newspapers, Darlington & Stockton Times and The Northern Echo.

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. Most children who passed the 11+ exam then went to Yarm Grammar School, with some Catholic 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, opened in 1959 for pupils between 11 and 18, was originally a secondary modern and became a comprehensive school in the 1970s. Later a sixth form college was incorporated. It currently has about 1,700 pupils. Alumni of Stokesley School include Labour politician Alan Milburn, 1988 Olympics runner Louise Stuart and Sky Sports News journalist and presenter David Jones.

Notable people

 * John Coates (1828–1870), cricketer
 * Jonathan Ruffer, financial expert, author, philanthropist

Videos

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