The present church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Stokesley is on the site where Christians have met for at least a thousand years that we know of and probably longer. It is also in an area that has been trodden by the Saints on their way to and from the great centres and shrines of Christianity at York, Durham, Jarrow, Lindisfarne - Holy Island , Whitby, Rievaulx, Mount Grace Priory, Fountains Abbey and Lastingham. The turf of these hills and valleys has been hallowed by the feet of the four brothers Chad, Cedd, Cynebil and Caelin, of Aidan, Cuthbert, Paulinus, Wilfred and King Oswald, and countless others since the 7th century, mostly not known by name - a rich heritage indeed.

The first written record of the church is in the Domesday Survey of William the First where it records "a church and priest". It was one of the few churches left in the Cleveland area of North Yorkshire after William the Conqueror's harrying of the North (1069) in an attempt to subdue the Northerners.

In 1223 Henry III granted a charter for a Fair at Stokesley and so it was a community of reasonable size and perhaps it is from that time that its market town status originated. The church was at the heart of the community and is a place hallowed by the prayer and worship of Christians across those centuries to the present day.

When you visit us in mind or body please pray for our continuing work in the name of Jesus Christ in this town.

The Church of Saint Martin in the village of Seamer serves a much more scattered population that also includes the village of Newby (Seamer and Newby not to be confused with the villages of the same names near Scarborough!) and the area of Tame Bridge. The foundation of this church is lost in the mists of time but it does not seem to go back as far as Stokesley, and the present church was rebuilt on the site of an earlier church in the mid 1800s.