Stockton Parish Church

Stockton Parish Church, originally dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, was built between 1710 and 1712, reportedly with advice from Christopher Wren. It replaced a medieval building on the site. The church underwent restoration in 1893, with reseating and a new chancel added by R J Johnson in 1906. A site chapel and choir vestry were added by W D Caröe in 1925.

The church is a six-bay aisled nave with a west tower and a taller three-bay chancel. It is constructed of brick with stone dressings, quoins, a moulded string to the parapet and moulded coping. The round leaded windows contain round leaded lances with long aprons below. Rainwater heads, one dated 1712, are placed between most windows. The low-pitched roof over the nave and aisles has projecting half gables flanking the west tower. The three-stage west tower has corner pinnacles and round leaded louvre windows. A moulded string sits above the clock stage. The west doorway has been restored with a round-headed form, a segmental pediment above a fanlight, and a ramped apron to the window. A smaller version of this design is present on the south door, with a segmental eaved architrave, a heavy label, and a shortened window above. A three-bay south chapel features a similar door, which incorporates a reused element from its original position on the south side. The early 20th-century chancel is in a "Wrenaissance" style, constructed from brick with brick piers and stone-dressed, round oeil-de-boeuf windows. Two doorways are blocked on the south side. The east end has a large round leaded window with a concave jamb, an armorial cartouche above, and extends into open stone balustrades with ball finials. Urns are at the base of the east end pediment, with a cross at the apex. Vestries are located on the north side.

Inside, the church features square piers to the arcade and composite piers to the rib-vaulted south chapel. The aisles are top lit, and galleries have been removed. A variety of good carved 19th and 20th-century bench ends are present, along with good oak pews commemorating the Stockton-Darlington railway. The chancel has rich woodwork, an early 18th-century lectern, and the upper part of a three-deck pulpit. The altar rails are made from drift oak collected by Captain William Christopher during Captain Cook’s voyage to Hudson's Bay. A single-story aisle is located south of the chancel.