Pirates & Smugglers of Skelton

Tees Valley Arts have been carrying out creative consultation with young people of Skelton; engaging them with Skelton All Saints Old Church and its grave yard. Joe Dunne and Rowena Sommerville have been running visual arts and creative writing workshops at Skelton Youth Centre to gain the young people’s views and thoughts on the church and its grave yard.

Skelton Poster

Joe Dunne, Tees Valley Arts’ Heritage & Environment Officer commented “we have had a great time exploring the Church and investigating whether the graveyard, as legend has it, really does hide the gravestones of smugglers and pirates and finding out about the hidden history of local families”

The Churches Conservation Trust, who care for the church and its grounds now it is no longer used for regular worship commissioned TVA to carry out creative consultation to inform a funding bid for a more developed project to be delivered later in 2009/10.