Stoke Row, Oxfordshire

Stoke Row

St John the Evangelist parish church
Stoke Row
 Stoke Row shown within Oxfordshire
Population 625 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSU6884
Civil parishStoke Row
DistrictSouth Oxfordshire
Shire countyOxfordshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Goring-on-Thames
Postcode district RG9
Dialling code 01491
Police Thames Valley
Fire Oxfordshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentHenley
WebsiteStoke Row
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire

Coordinates: 51°33′07″N 1°00′58″W / 51.552°N 1.016°W

Stoke Row is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire and about 9 miles (14 km) north of Reading.

History

The toponym was first recorded in 1435. It means a "row of houses at Stoke" (Stoke being a common name for a secondary settlement or outlying farmstead).[2]

Stoke Row was a hamlet divided between the ancient parishes, and later civil parishes, of Ipsden, Newnham Murren and Mongewell. It became a chapelry in 1849.[3] From 1932 it was divided between Ipsden and Crowmarsh (into which Newnham Murren and Mongewell were merged)[4] In 1952 Stoke Row was made a new civil parish.[5]

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Evangelist was built in 1846. It was designed in 13th century style by the architect R.C. Hussey.[6] St. John the Evangelist parish is now a member of The Langtree Team Ministry: a Church of England benefice that includes also the parishes of Checkendon, Ipsden, North Stoke, Whitchurch-on-Thames and Woodcote.[7]

Stoke Row Independent Chapel

Stoke Row Independent Chapel

History

Stoke Row Independent Chapel was built in 1815, but there is a history of Dissenters meeting in the village since 1691, when they gathered in the drawing room of a local farmhouse.

In the early years services were conducted by visiting ministers or licensed lay preachers, but in 1955 a wealthy local farmer, who had been a lifelong strong supporter, bequeathed a large piece of land opposite the chapel and on this houses were built. The resulting finance enabled a house to be built for the Minister and for chapel modernisation, including modern heating and the provision of a kitchen and toilets. A trust was also established and this still provides for the upkeep of the exterior of both buildings.

In 1978 Padre Bernard Railton Bax took over the ministry and, together with his wife Yvonne, brought great life to the Chapel. His work was continued, after his death in 1990, by Rev John Harrington and his wife Nina. Mrs Harrington died in 1996 and Rev Harrington retired at the age of 87, after thirteen years of service.

The chapel has always been independent, but it has neighbourly links with the local Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist. There was once a move to integrate with the Congregational Church, but the plan did not materialise. The chapel has an ecumenical attitude and residential Ministers in recent years have included a Baptist and several from a United Reformed Church background.

Today the Chapel has a congregation of about 80 members and around 35 attend regularly. The chapel choir sings every week. A Sunday School thrived until quite recently. Since Rev Harrington retired, Rev David Holmwood and his wife Trish have served the chapel. The Salvation Army and other charities provide lay speakers once a month. The current ministers are Revs David and Sonia Jackson.

The chapel keeps to the core values of worship and praise but also endeavours to serve the local community on an individual and collective basis. A home-based Bible Study Group and a Social Club that meets once a month, as well as visits made to the sick and housebound, are part of this work. The Chapel Council maintains a dignified but friendly atmosphere.

Ministers

Maharajah's Well

The Maharajah's Well

Edward Anderdon Reade, the local squire at Ipsden, had worked with the Maharajah of Benares in India in the mid nineteenth century. He had sunk a well in 1831 to aid the community in Azimgurgh. Reade left the area in 1860.

A couple of years later the Maharajah decided on an endowment in England. Recalling Mr Reade’s generosity in 1831 and also his stories of water deprivation in his home area of Ipsden[8] the Maharajah commissioned the well at Stoke Row and it was sunk in 1863.[6] The originally intended site for the well was Nuffield Common. All work was completed by the Wallingford firm of R. J. and H. Wilder.[9]

Amenities

The village has two public houses. The Cherry Tree Inn[10] dates from the 17th century and is a Brakspear tied house.

The Cherry Tree Inn

The Crooked Billet,[11] a free house, was built in 1642 and is reputed to have once been the hideout of notorious highwayman Dick Turpin, who was alleged to have been romantically attached to the landlord's daughter, Bess. It was England's first gastropub and was the venue for Titanic star Kate Winslet's wedding reception. In June 1989, the British progressive rock band Marillion played their first performance with Steve Hogarth as frontman at the Crooked Billet, and a documentary DVD entitled From Stoke Row To Ipanema - A Year In The Life was subsequently produced.[12]

In the 1851 census the head of the household at No 1 Stoke Row was George Hope, who built "The Hope" public house. This was later known as "The Farmer" and today is known as Farmer's Cottage, located on the corner of Main Street with Nottwood Lane.[13]

The village has a Church of England primary school.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Area selected: South Oxfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  2. ↑ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010). "Stoke Row". The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 510, 577.
  3. ↑ John Marius Wilson (1870-72), Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales in Vision of Britain
  4. ↑ Vision of Britain: Crowmarsh CP
  5. ↑ Vision of Britain: Stoke Row CP
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 789
  7. ↑ The Langtree Team Ministry
  8. ↑ Stoke Row: History
  9. ↑ Williamson, 1983
  10. ↑ Cherry Tree Inn
  11. ↑ The Crooked Billet
  12. ↑ "Steve Hogarth's first Marillion Gig / The Crooked Billet at http://www.btinternet.com/~europeans". Archived from the original on 2012-06-05.
  13. ↑ "Stoke Row Census Return 1851" at oldplace.free-online.co.uk
  14. ↑ Stoke Row Church of England Primary School

Sources

External links

Media related to Stoke Row, Oxfordshire at Wikimedia Commons