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.
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| St Peters Church, The Oldest Building In Thornaby (Above) |
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.
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| View Towards The Flats From The Town Centre (Above) |
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.