Rodney Stoke

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Rodney Stoke
Coordinates: 51.2476° N 2.7357° W
Population	1230[1]
OS grid reference	ST486501
District	Mendip
Shire county	Somerset
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Postcode district	BS27
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Wells
European Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Somerset

Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at grid reference ST486501, 5 miles north west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. It is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip.

Rodney Stoke was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Stoches, meaning 'a stockaded settlement' from the Old English stoc. In 1291 the place name was recorded as Stokgifford. The Giffords were Saxon nobility at the time of Edward the Confessor with Walter Gifford (then spelt Gifard) as the Earl of Buckingham.^[2]

The village was the home of, and is probably named after Sir John Rodney (b c1561, d 06.08.1612).

The first Baron Rodney was George Brydges Rodney, (February 1718 – May 24, 1792) a British naval officer.

It is one of the seven Thankful Villages in Somerset where all the men returned from World War I.

The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, was built around 1175. The interior of the church contains a screen, bearing the date 1624, the gift of Sir E. Rodney.^[3] It is a grade I listed building.^[4]

Close to the village is the Rodney Stoke nature reserve, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

[edit] References

1. ^ Mendip Parish Population Estimates 2002. Somerset County Council. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
2. ^ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1874336032. 
3. ^ St Leonards Church. HEVAC Heritage. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
4. ^ Church of St Leonard. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.