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Early History.
Thornaby is said to have come into its existence about 800 A.D.when the land was given by Halfdene, King of the Danes, to Thormod, one of his noblemen.

There are other signs of Thornaby being a much older or even prehistoric settlement.First of all, traces of prehistoric man have been found here, the earliest being a stone axe,8" long, dating back to the Mesolithic Period ( about 3000 B.C. ).In 1926 a dug out canoe said to date from about 1600 - 1400 B.C. was found in the mud under 8 feet of water opposite Thornaby High Wood.
An arrow head of the Neolithic Period (about 3000 B.C. )was found in a garden on the Thornaby Village Green.

Links to the Romans
Thornaby is said to have been a Roman camp but no trace is to be found.However Roman coins have been found in soil in allotment gardens and on the green.

One shows ANTONINUS PIUS and is dated between 138 A.D. and 161 A.D. Another shows CONSTANTIUS 1 CHLORUS and is dated between 293 A.D. and 306 A.D.Another is from the AUGUSTIAN PERIOD (31 B.C.to 14 A.D.) and was found in blue clay under the old Jolly Farmers Inn

Domesday Book
During the Battle of Hastings (1066) one of William the Conquerors noblemen, ROBERT DE BRUS 1, marched north with a garrison of men and occupied the area of Cleveland. William gave him those lands to control including Thornaby and Middlesbrough.

Sweyn,the then King of Denmark was not happy with the idea of the Normans ruling over his people in the north and so , on Sept.9th 1069 he defeated the Normans at York by killing the entire garrison of 3000 men.
William swore an oath to avenge Sweyn by destroting every house and dwelling in the lands under Sweyns rule, so leaving all the land in the north east of Yorkshire barren and bare.

This is why in Thornaby`s first mention in the Domeday Book it states:- " Robert Malet has these lands and they are waste." It appears they stayed waste until the early 19 th. century as " Thurnaby waaste " is mentioned in a poem by Tennyson called "The Northern Farmer.".