| Where | Great Broughton Village Hall | Type of Event | Illustrated Talk |
| When | 19th October 2026 at 7.30pm | Tutor | John Little |
The lecture was delivered by John Little, who was born in Stockton but now lives in Cambridge. John was enthusiastic about his subject and provided his audience with a very detailed account. The account proved to be somewhat tantalising. John presented so many interesting features and yet they were often taken away by the lack of primary sources. The secondary sources refer to material seen but the secondary source was perhaps more anecdotal. In short, a lot of the material was reported as used but has disappeared, often without the author providing the necessary references.There is not much archaeology because the town went through many stages of development. We had a good sized audience of between thirty and forty. John’s lecture was lively and comprehensive. It was clear that this was a well-researched and mastered subject. It was fascinating and thorough. There were illustrations to accompany the various aspects of the talk.
An opening question was whether Stockton was a town in the 15th century. It is known to have had a market since 1310. The parish church was built in 1712 and the Town Hall in 1735. In its early days it was a largely agricultural settlement and later became industrialised. There was a map of Stockton dated 1601 but that has now disappeared.
Stockton fell very much within the control of the Bishop of Durham. He had a castle but that is thought to be more of a manor house. The bishop had quays alongside the river as did the burgesses. There was litigation on the dispute which arose around commerce. The castle was knocked down during the Commonwealth. Perhaps it was “one of the ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit”. The stones were used to build houses in 18th century. Also in 18th century the High Street and the market were developed, more warehousing appeared and a new customs house was built. The port was important. Exports were mainly butter and lead. Imports were largely timber and other building materials
At this time individuals played an important part in the town, which became more populous and urbanised. In 1835 the structure of local government changed generally because of the Municipal Corporations Act which began the modern age of borough government and history.
The material was absorbing and the audience was attentive. The time passed easily and the audience was informed and entertained. There were questions at the end of the presentation and some continued into the later evening. An enjoyable evening.