Stockton-on-Tees is an industrial town and port on the River Tees in north-eastern England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority of borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, most of the Stockton-on-Tees district is in County Durham, but the part south of the River Tees is in North Yorkshire.

Major industries in Stockton include ship-repairing, steel and chemicals.

The town is most famous for its associations with the Stockton and Darlington Railway on which ran the world's first steam hauled passenger train in 1825. The town also has the world's oldest railway station building, and also contains much Georgian architecture, one notable example being the worlds oldest Georgian theatre, constructed in 1766.

It was the birthplace and early home of furniture maker Thomas Sheraton. It was also the home of John Walker, who invented the friction match in 1826.

The town's High Street is reputed by local legend to be the widest street in England.

The suburbs of Stockton-on-Tees are divided into several different boroughs, Hartburn, Fairfield, Hardwick and Norton being a select few.

Stockton town centre has undergone many developments in recent years including the spectacular, albeit wobbly, Millennium Bridge, the brand new Queens Campus of Durham University, several acres of office buildings sprouting up along North Bank of the River Tees and Wellington Square, the modern shopping arcade designed and developed by the Duke of Wellington himself.

External links

Stockton-on-Tees borough council