If you’ve ever been passing through Haverton Hill, on the north bank of the River Tees between Port Clarence or the Transporter Bridge, and Portrack in Stockton (maybe even when visiting the nearby Household Waste Recycling Centre), you may have noticed a small lychgate and graveyard by the side of the road.

This was once the site of St John’s Church, serving the residential area of Haverton Hill which was once much larger than it is today.

This area used to be the home of industrial workers, and those working on the river or in the shipyards.

About St John’s Church

An early view of St John’s Church

The church of St John the Evangelist was built in 1865 and consisted of brick, with stone dressings.

It was built in the Early English style and had a chance, nave and small turret with two bells; a stained glass window was in the east end.

The church was a place of worship, marriage, baptism and burial for the community that lived nearby. However, by the late 1960s the area was in decline and much of Haverton Hill was being demolished.

(credit https://www.flickr.com/photos/bolckow/albums/72157683553638400/)

St John’s Church survived into the early 1970s, with the final ceremonies being recorded around that time. It was then demolished in 1974.

St John’s Church Site Today

A gap where the church once stood.

Today you can still visit the site of St John’s Church in Haverton Hill. The original lychgate survives, and inside many of the graves and stones are visible in the original cemetery, as well as the extension.

The site of the church can easily be seen as a large area of grass with no gravestones, and the path is still there.

St John’s graveyard contains a number of burials of members of the Yorkshire Regiment from both World War I and II.

A plaque in the entrance gives notice that this is a Commonwealth grave site.