North East Bylines readers may recall that I visited the Top 20 churches of Hartlepool on 14 February 2025. Just over two weeks later, I decided to repeat the exercise, this time in Middlesbrough.
Industrial legacy
Similar to Hartlepool, Middlesbrough has a rich industrial legacy, but Middlesbrough’s boom was different. Firstly, it was based almost entirely on one industry, iron and steel. Secondly, the scale of wealth generated in Middlesbrough far exceeded that of the town’s local rivals such as Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool. For more than a century, a lot of that wealth found its way into a built heritage exemplified by some of the churches that I visited on 3 and 5 March.
Suburbia
But my journey started, not in Middlesbrough town centre, but in a village that was already thriving long before Joseph Pease started building the Infant Hercules from scratch nearly 200 years ago. I took the train from Middlesbrough railway station and headed for the leafy suburbs of Nunthorpe. So, my list of the Top 20 Churches of Middlesbrough started here:
Number 1: Parish Church of St Mary The Virgin, Church Lane
After leaving Nunthorpe railway station, I headed west along Guisborough Road, then took the public footpath south towards Church Lane. The village of Nunthorpe appears in the Domesday book of 1086, but St Mary’s Church only dates back to 1926. It’s a very unusual building. A cruciform Early English Gothic Revival, at a time when this fad had long faded elsewhere. St Mary’s is one of the last works by genius Temple Moore. The church is quite a walk from the village centre, and the path is muddy in places, but the walk is worth it.
Number 2: Church of St Cuthbert, Stokesley Road, Marton
I headed back to Nunthorpe railway station and took a northbound train for a short hop to Marton station. I cut across Stewart Park, stopping off for breakfast in Henry’s Café at Askham Bryan College. I continued past the birthplace of Middlesbrough’s most famous son, Captain James Cook FRS, then exited the other side of the park to reach St Cuthbert’s Church. This sandstone church, a rarity in this town, can be dated back to the 12th Century, but it was substantially rebuilt in the mid 1840s. James Cook was baptised here on 3 November 1728.
Number 3: St Joseph’s Church, Park Road South
I walked down Stokesley Road to Marton Crossroads, took the Number 63 bus to Belle Vue Roundabout. I continued along Marton Road on foot, reaching St Joseph’s Church, at the junction with Park Road South. St Joseph’s is one of several Italian Romanesque churches in the suburbs of Middlesbrough. The church was designed by Frank Spink in 1934 and it is a minor masterpiece. Spink was no doubt influenced by Jules Coomans’ nearby Sacred Heart Church, of which more later.
Number 4: Jamia Masjid Al-Madinah, Waterloo Road
I continued north along Marton Road, then turned left at the roundabout into Clairville Road. I then turned right on to Park Vale Road, then left into Waterloo Road. The Jamia Masjid Al-Madinah was formerly Saint Michael and All Angels Church. It is yet another red-brick, with bold terracotta features, completed in 1900. The church fell into disrepair by the early 1970s, and was bought by the local Pakistani community to be converted into a masjid. The minaret is a recent addition.
Number 5: Park Methodist Church, Linthorpe Road
I continued along Waterloo Road, took a left into Woodlands Road, a right into Granville Road, then a left into Linthorpe Road. I crossed the road to Park Methodist Church. The church was designed in 1903/05 by W.J. Morley & Son of Bradford, and it is a beauty. A riot of brick, pale yellow sandstone, terracotta and stained glass. And a four-storey tower topped off with a copper dome. It has long since ceased to be a church, and has been converted into flats, known as Tees Valley Apartments.
Number 6: Church of Sacred Heart and St Philomena, Linthorpe Road
I crossed back over Linthorpe Road and headed south for a couple of minutes to reach my next church. It has simply been known as the Sacred Heart since St Philomena got cancelled by the Roman Catholic Church in 1961. The building was constructed in 1895 to the design of Jules Coomans. It is the architect’s only known UK commission. Coomans later became city architect of the Belgian city of Ieper/Ypres after the First World War. He was responsible for much of the reconstruction of a city that was all but destroyed during four years of conflict. But the Sacred Heart Church shows his early promise. It is well worth a visit, with the view from Albert Park being notably impressive.
Number 7: Park Presbyterian Church, Linthorpe Road
Park Presbyterian Church can be found immediately across the road from the Sacred Heart. The church was built in 1923 to serve the Scottish immigrant community. As with all other Presbyterian churches, it became a United Reformed Church in the early 1970s, but it is now home to the Seventh Day Adventists. An unusual design, with hints of King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, but rendered in cement and brick.
Number 8: Sjömanskyrka (Sailor’s Church), Linthorpe Road
Back across Linthorpe Road and a few steps further south to the Sjömanskyrka, colloquially known as the Swedish Church. The church formed part of a mission for Scandinavian seamen on Linthorpe Road, but the entrance is on Park Road South. The Sjömanskyrka was consecrated in 1963, but it is now a community bistro. The building contains a remarkable stained glass window, which was made in Sweden, then shipped to Middlesbrough in 1962. The remainder of the mission has been converted into an apartment block called Scandinavian House, and a pharmacy. The exterior wall features a beautiful tile mosaic, but bins are stored in front of this for some reason.
Middlesbrough’s musical connection
Pastor Lennart Lundström, who led the congregation at the Sjömanskyrka in the 1970s, is the grandfather of Klara and Johanna Söderberg of the duo ‘First Aid Kit’.
Number 9: Church of St Barnabas, St Barnabas Road
Just another two minutes south along Linthorpe Road took me to St Barnabas Church, at the junction with St Barnabas Road. It’s another one of Middlesbrough’s Grade II-listed red-bricks. This one is by C Hodgson-Fowler, and dates back to 1886. The architect also designed St Paul’s Church in Hartlepool, also Grade II-listed, six years earlier. Photos of both churches are shown below. They’re very similar, but St Barnabas doesn’t have a tower.
Number 10: The Avenue Methodist Church, Linthorpe
Heading south, Linthorpe Road becomes The Avenue, where I found the Methodist Church. The church dates back to 1908, and it was designed by A. Forrester. The official Historic England listing is worth reading in full, because the architect pulled out all of the stops here, with a confidence found only in the Edwardian Baroque. The side towers contain swag festoons picked out in concrete. Not many builders tried to pull that off, although buddleia grows there now.
Number 11: Holy Name of Mary, The Avenue
I continued along The Avenue to the Holy Name of Mary Church. The church was built by the Marist order of the Roman Catholic church in 1938. The architect, Thomas A. Crawford, took his cues from other Italian Romanesque churches in the south suburbs of Middlesbrough. There’s an obligatory campanile. These are abundant in the town too. The Marist priests also ran St Mary’s Sixth Form College next door. The college moved to new premises in 1962, but the building is still there, next to the church.
Number 12: St Francis of Assisi Church, Levick Crescent
The Avenue continues south here. I followed it, then turned left right into Orchard Road, which continues as Cambridge Road. I reached Acklam Road then turned left, following it south to the junction with Levick Crescent. St Francis of Assisi Church, from 1935, is another of Frank Spink’s churches, and bears many similarities to his St Joseph’s Church (see Church #3) and also Jules Coomans’ Sacred Heart Church (see Church #6). The three churches form a trilogy of Italian Romanesque architecture, and are a feature unique to Middlesbrough. The campanile of St Francis Church is a work of art, and the interior is a must-see.
Number 13: St Martin of Tours Church, Whinney Banks Road
A 180 turn and a two-minute walk along Acklam Road took me to St Martin of Tours Church. The church, built in 1940, is a yet another Middlesbrough’s red-brick church. The modernist St Martin’s Church is the most full-bore of them all. It’s from the brutalist school, but even those designers didn’t feature mobile phone masts in the original drawings. Having visited 13 churches on Day 1, I took the Number 14 bus to Middlesbrough bus station, then walked to the railway station.
Number 14: St Margaret of Scotland Church, The Oval, Brookfield
On Day 2, I returned to Middlesbrough bus station via the railway station, then caught the Number 13 bus to The Oval in Brookfield. St Margaret’s Church, dating from 1960, is an unusual church for its era. The sandstone flourishes are reminiscent of Arts and Crafts features sixty years previously, and the concrete flying buttresses are a 20th pastiche of their medieval forebears.
Number 15: St Clare of Assisi Church, Low Lane, Brookfield
I continued along the Oval into Lincombe Drive, then turned left into Low Lane. St Clare of Assisi Church is part of the parish of St Francis of Assisi (see Church #18). It was designed by Thomas A. Crawford in 1965. Crawford also designed the Holy Name of Mary Church in Linthorpe (see Church #12). St Clare’s Church has some similarities to Crawford’s earlier building, but this one is uncompromisingly modernist in outlook: Two shades of brick, with rectangular windows, and some understated stained glass.
Number 16: Church of St Peter and St Paul, Thornton Road, Stainton
I returned along Low Lane, walked past the junction with Lincombe Drive, then took the Number 13 bus for a 5-minute journey to Stainton village. There has been a church on this site since the 7th century, but the current St Peter and St Paul Church dates from the 13th Century. It’s another church where the official list entry on the Historic England website is worth reading in full. I was fortunate enough to visit the church during a coffee morning, and was able to take an interior photo of one of the stained glass windows. One historic note: Captain James Cook’s parents married in St Peter and St Paul Church in 1725.
Number 17: Primitive Methodist Church, Linthorpe Road
I took the number 13 bus back towards Middlesbrough town centre, and alighted at the junction of Linthorpe Road and Borough Road. The Primitive Methodist Church at this crossroads dates back to 1892. The building was extended in 1910 to include a Sunday school. Some later alterations were unnecessary and poorly executed, but the church retains many features from when the Gothic Revival was at its height. Stained glass was the order of the day, and this church has got a lot of it.
Number 18: Church of All Saints, Linthorpe Road
Two blocks north of the Methodist Church, the Church of All Saints can be found at the junction with Grange Road. All Saints, built in 1878, is Decorated Gothic Revival, and is the only limestone-built church in Middlesbrough. The interior of this church is beautiful, if you are able to gain entry. Canon Glyn Holland SSC tends to one of the poorest communities in the country. On 5 August 2024, Glyn picked up a broom and a black bag, then helped clean up the streets of his parish after the previous day’s riot.
The Bells of St Hilda’s
St Hilda’s, Middlesbrough’s first church dating back to 1864, was demolished in 1969. The church bells of St Hilda’s were rescued, placed in a modern frame, then reinstated next to All Saints Church in 1975. Thirty years later, the bells were moved to a pedestrianised section of nearby Grange Road, where they remain to this day.
Number 19: Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, Marton Road
I headed east along Grange Road, took a left into Albert Road, then a right into Russell Street. This part of the street is also known as Centre Square. As I headed down this boulevard, the bulk of the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist came into view. I exited Russell Street into Marton Road. Red-brick churches are a Middlesbrough speciality, and St John’s, built in 1865, is the finest of them. The tower was added 18 years after the main building was completed. The Grade II listing describes ‘red brick, sandstone and patterned polychrome brick dressings’. These dressings had been hidden under soot for decades, and it was a revelation when the brickwork was cleaned. St John’s forms a joint parish with St Columba’s Church, where I headed next.
Number 20: Church of St Columba, Wilson Street
I headed north along Marton Road, then took a left turn into Corporation Road, which continues as Newport Road. I then turned right into Wilson Street. St Columba’s Church, built in 1902, is another work by Temple Moore, but unlike St Mary’s in Nunthorpe (see Church #1), this is brick built. The church tower is brutal, and is a familiar site to commuters on the nearby A66. St Columba’s has been shared with Middlesbrough’s Greek Orthodox Community since 1999, and it contains an Orthodox Chapel. That would be an ecumenical matter. I continued along Wilson Street, turned left into Linthorpe Road, and headed back to Middlesbrough railway station
