Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England

The Romans used York (Eboricum) as their main base from which they subdued the area in A.D. 71. Present-day Stockton-on-Tees had its origins in the nearby settlement of Norton, which was a strong Anglo-Saxon estate during the period A.D. 450 and A.D. 650.

During the tenth century the estate was gifted to the Bishop of Durham by a son of the Earl of Northumberland, as a token of his respect for St. Cuthbert who was the patron saint of the bishopric and an iconic early Christian religeous leader.

The parish of Norton is located on the north bank of the River Tees and covered about fifteen square miles. Stockton was but one of a number of small settlements within the parish boundaries. The settlement of Stockton remained part of the parish of Norton until the early 18th century.

Stockton-on-Tees commenced to emerge as the more prominant settlement over Norton in 1183, when it appeared in the Bolden Book which was the Palatinate of Durham's equivalent of the Domesday Book. This was during this period of the Prince Bishops of Durham

The name of Stockton indicates a "tun" or "village" belonging to the "stoc" or "monastery" of an eccliastical authority (Bishop of Durham.)

Stockton-on-Tees claims a number of historical "firsts". A locally-born druggist by the name of John Walker is credited with inventing the first friction match in 1826.

The first public railway to employ steam locomotives was opened on 27 September 1825. It ran from Stockton to Darlington on track laid by George Stephenson the reknowned railway engineer.

Stockton-on-Tees has the widest high street in England

Harold MacMillan who later went on to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, fought and won his first "seat" in Parliament as a Tory MP for Stockton in 1924. Upon accepting a peerage in 1984, he selected Earl of Stockton and Viscount MacMillan of Ovenden as his title.