Thorpe Thewles – Roger De Fulthorpe Grave Cover

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This is one part of Teesside that’s remaining hidden at the moment, the grave cover is currently covered for its own protection.
Thorpe Thewles -  Roger De Fulthorpe Grave Cover
The stone was originally in St. Thomas a Becket’s church in Grindon
Thorpe Thewles -  Roger De Fulthorpe Gravecover

This photo from the Thorpe Thewles History Group shows a comparision betwen 1940 and 2007 and the rapid deterioration of the inscription.


The group are hoping to start a conservation project this year, so hopefully it will soon be on view again.

Holy Trinity Church, Stockton

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Consecrated on December 22th 1835 with a 200ft high steeple, the building ran into trouble in the late 1950s when its steeple was found to be unsafe and in need of £20,000 of repairs, so had to be dismantled.
Holy Trinity Church, Stockton
More financial troubles and falling congregations lead to the church finally closing in 1982
Holy Trinity Church, Stockton
The Greek Orthodox church took over in 1985 but the church was unfortunately plagued by vandalism, including the destruction of its valuable organ.

The final straw came on October 1 1991 when the building was destroyed by fire

Westside House – Old Marton Vicarage

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This is the former vicarage built in 1847. It replaced the old parsonage that was in a very bad state of repair. It is now in the ownership of a private company.

The following is a report in the papers of Middlesbrough of an incident at the vicarage of Marton in 1875.

FATAL GUN ACCIDENT NEAR MIDDLESBROUGH. A HOUSEMAID SHOT BY A CLERGYMAN’S SON.
On Saturday 1875, the housmaid, Margaret Barnett, was shot and fatally wounded in the kitchen of the vicarage in Marton village. The vicar’s son, Richard Bailey, had just loaded the gun, which was a breach loading double barrel gun, when one barrel went off hitting Margaret Barnett in the left breast. The groom, called Carver was also in the kitchen at the time and had just gotten up from the table, if he had stayed at the table then he would have taken the fatal shot. Margaret staggered into the other kitchen followed by Richard, whereupon she fell to the floor dying. the Doctor was sent for but she died before he arrived. Richard had been pestering his father, the Rev Bailey, for a gun of his own and so his father borrowed one from Carl F Bolckow. On the morning of the fateful day Richard had spotted a hare in the garden and had asked Margaret to fetch the cartridges from upstairs. She stood in front of him a couple of yards away and watched him load the gun, it was just after this that the trigger was caught and the gun went off. Margaret Barnett was buried in St Cuthbert’s churchyard on the 25th January 1875 after an inquest decided it was accidental.

The Stewart Park and Marton History Group was a small local history group that now, no longer meets . It had a website that was in the process of being updated with local history when the group disbanded and these are the pages that survived.
The lasting legacy of the group is the graves of Bolckow and Vaughan in Marton Churchyard, a project the group started and fund raised for and it eventually came to be, through the work of Middlesbrough Environment City.

Additional info, the house has since been converted into apartments, here are a detailed set of photos, details of an archaeological dig and its listed building entry

Grave of three thieves who died in a well, Marton

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The story of these men was that they hid some stolen meat down a well behind the Rudds Arms public house and when they went to retrieve it they succumbed to the gas at the bottom. The grave inscription goes on to warn of the dangers of gas in wells.

The Stewart Park and Marton History Group was a small local history group that now, no longer meets . It had a website that was in the process of being updated with local history when the group disbanded and these are the pages that survived.
The lasting legacy of the group is the graves of Bolckow and Vaughan in Marton Churchyard, a project the group started and fund raised for and it eventually came to be, through the work of Middlesbrough Environment City.

Some additional information I have found from North East History Tour

The three men were Robert Armstrong (28), John Ingledew (39) and Joseph Fenison (28) who lost their lives on 11th October 1812.

St Cuthberts Church and Churchyard

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The parish of Marton also includes the hamlets of Tolesby and Newham. The original village was in two parts – an eastside and a westside. Most of the eastside of the village was removed when Marton Lodge was improved by Bartholomew Rudd and this allegedly included the cottage where James Cook was born. There are no original buildings left in the hamlets of Tolesby and Newham, all the land being built on with modern housing.

In the west side of the village is the parish church of St Cuthbert. It originally consisted of a nave, chancel and square tower. Many of the improvements and it’s design you see today was through the patronage of the Rudd family.

In the older picture can be seen the window given by the Bolckow family. By the condition of the stone work, this picture was taken not long after the window was installed.

As well as Bolckow and Vaughan, other notable graves are:
Bartholomew Rudd.
Born 1769 Died 1829. Owned the estate of Marton, lived at Marton Lodge with his wife Ann and are both buried in the family vault in St Cuthberts . ( Marton Lodge burnt down and was eventually replaced by Marton Hall built by H.W.F Bolckow )
John Bartholomew Rudd.Born 1813 Died 1888. Lived at Tollesby Hall. Nephew of Bartholomew Rudd of Marton Lodge. He gave the stone from Marton Lodge to be used in the building of the Capt Cook Memorial School.

Sir Raylton Dixon.
Shipbuilder. Bought Gunnergate Hall but died before moving in. Councilor from 1868 – 1874 and 1879 – 1888. Mayor of Middlesbrough in 1889 when the town played host to the Prince and Princess of Wales at the opening of the new Town Hall.

Edward Williams. 1826 – 1886
In 1865 Edward Williams moved to Middlesbrough to become the general manager of Bolckow and Vaughan’s iron works. After several years as a manager he bought his own works, so becoming an Ironmaster in his own right.

Robert Ridley Kitching.
An Architect by profession. He was a Middlesbrough Councilor from 1932 – 1949 and Mayor in 1943 and 1944.

Henry Newbould 1877 – 1965.
Pie maker. Second son of the founder of the well known family business in Middlesbrough, Henry took over the running of the business after Wilson Newbould ( his brother ) died on 15th May 1896 at the young age of 57, and Wilson’s oldest son, Samuel aged 19, had died of pneumonia two days earlier.

Joseph Winterschladen.
Born in Cologne in 1842. He came to Middlesbrough in 1865 setting up as a wine importer. In 1885 opened up his own business as Winterschladens. Married Miss M. J. Barrett in 1875, they had four sons and four daughters. Lived at Rhine Lodge which is still standing, on Marton Road next to what is now Longlands roundabouts.

Agnes Spencer.
Died 1959. Born in the village of Marton . She stayed on at the memorial school as a pupil teacher. Moving to Leeds, she met and married Thomas Spencer the cofounder and partner of Marks and Spencer. She funded many charitable works including the church of St Agnes at Easterside . In later life she came back to Marton, and lived on the Grove.

The Stewart Park and Marton History Group was a small local history group that now, no longer meets . It had a website that was in the process of being updated with local history when the group disbanded and these are the pages that survived.
The lasting legacy of the group is the graves of Bolckow and Vaughan in Marton Churchyard, a project the group started and fund raised for and it eventually came to be, through the work of Middlesbrough Environment City.

Granite Cross – Billingham Green

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This Shap Granite cross was erected at a cost of £44 in 1893, the idea of Rev Phillip Rudd. It was made by Bowrons of Stockton.
Cross Bilingham Green
The Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VII was supposed to unveil the cross, but his carriage passed without stopping.
Cross Bilingham Green
Unfortunately little remains of the original buildings around the green which has since been redeveloped.