Stockton is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
, in the
Stratford-on-Avon district
Stratford-on-Avon is a local government district in southern Warwickshire, England.
The district is named "Stratford-on-Avon" unlike its main town of Stratford-upon-Avon where the district council is based.
The district is mostly rural and co ...
of
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. In the
2001 Census it had a population of 1,391, falling to 1,347 at the
2011 Census. The village is located just to the east of the
A426 road
A4 most often refers to:
*A4 paper, a paper size defined by the ISO 216 standard, measuring 210 × 297 mm
A4 and variants may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* British NVC community A4 (''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae - Stratiotes aloide ...
two miles north-east of
Southam
Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...
, and eight miles south-west of
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
. Stockton's name was first recorded in 1272, the name meaning 'a fenced enclosure'. During the 19th century, it developed as an industrial village.
Economy
![StocktonNelsonClubwarwickshire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/StocktonNelsonClubwarwickshire.jpg)
Today Stockton is largely a commuter village.
Industry
Stockton has long been associated with the manufacture of
lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
and
cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
. The village is surrounded by areas of
blue lias
The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, a raw material used in cement manufacture. This is reflected in the name of a nearby
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, the 'Blue Lias', beside the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
on the road to
Long Itchington (the title-deeds of the pub date back to 1809). As early as the 1850s workings in the area were extensive and the quarries in Stockton were among the first to be dug. By the early 20th century, Mssrs Charles Nelson and Co Ltd operated a large cement works half-a-mile north of the village which was closed and demolished in 1949. The extensive quarries remain and are known locally as the 'cally pits'.
The Nelson company was the biggest employer in the village and built the Nelson Clu
in May 1914, a
working men's club
Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...
, which is still thriving to this day. There are darts, pool and dominoes. A friendly atmosphere and cheaper drinks for members. Nelson's
cement works
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
was served by the ex-
LNWR
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the L ...
(later
LMS)
Weedon to Leamington railway line. The works was also connected to the
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
and
Napton Canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
, later part of the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
by a short canal arm leading to a loading dock; much of the company's traffic was carried on the waterways. The arm, now truncated and silted, is still visible. There was a footbridge across the main line of the canal by the junction to give access to the cement works but no trace of the bridge remains.
For many years, Nelson operated its own fleet of
narrowboat
A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commerc ...
s which in the early years of the 20th century included three steam-powered vessels named ''Jason'', ''Janet'' and ''Jupiter''. Another large cement works at
Southam
Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...
was operated by the Rugby Portland
Cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
Co Ltd and was situated two miles west of the village. This establishment operated until the 1990s and
quarrying
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
has continued there since manufacturing ceased. Southam was closed in 2000 when the cement works in nearby
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
was expanded and modernised.
Transport
Stockton Is located just off the
A426 road
A4 most often refers to:
*A4 paper, a paper size defined by the ISO 216 standard, measuring 210 × 297 mm
A4 and variants may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* British NVC community A4 (''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae - Stratiotes aloide ...
, turning off it at the junction with the unclassified road that runs through the village takes you almost immediately into the village. It is the only road that runs through the village and thus there are only two ways in and out. There is a footpath from the park at the side of the village to the nearby town of
Southam
Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...
, the village is also served by the 63 or 64 bus that goes either to
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...
or
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
. Stockton was served by the former
Weedon to Leamington railway line which crosses the northern edge of the parish. The station, which was a short walk from the village, was called
Napton and Stockton and also served
Napton-on-the-Hill
Napton on the Hill, often referred to locally as just Napton, is a village and civil parish east of Southam in Warwickshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,144.
Manor
The toponym Napton is derived ...
about two miles away. The line closed to passengers in 1958 and to all traffic a few years later.
Amenities
The village has a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
(
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
Inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
), with another two close by on the
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
(The Boat Inn & The
Blue Lias
The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...
), a
Working Men's Club
Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...
(The Nelson Club) and a
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Club, a Village Shop with a
Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
attached, a
Village Hall
A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as:
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
, a Chinese takeaway, and a
Primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
. Stockton hosts an annual
beer festival
A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales.
Asia
* Singapore holds an annual Beer Festiva ...
on the late Spring bank holiday (established 2013) and in 2016 it was held over 4 venues, The Crown, Football Club, Nelson Club and Boat Inn with its own
campsite
A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using te ...
located at the Football Club.
The Quarry
In 1898 a large
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
of an
Ichthyosaurus
''Ichthyosaurus'' (derived from Greek ' () meaning 'fish' and ' () meaning 'lizard') is a genus of ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian - Pliensbachian), with possible Late Triassic record, from Europe ( Belgium, England, Germany, ...
was found locally. It is now at the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
; in recent years an image of an Ichthyosaurus has been used on the sign at the entrance to the village. Part of the disused
quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
and the neighbouring railway cutting are now a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
. The disused quarries known locally as ''Cally Pits'' (with "Cally" being short for "
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
" after the 1800s
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
location
) have been the subject of controversy in the area for many years. In the summer of 1995 it was invaded by
New Age travellers
New Age travellers, not completely synonymous with but otherwise shortened to New Travellers (often referred to as "crusties"), are people in the United Kingdom generally espousing New Age beliefs along with the hippie culture of the 1960s (over ...
. The night before they were due to be evicted they held an all-night
rave
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
which could be heard as far away as
Long Itchington. The publicity surrounding this event caused an increase in trespass in the main larger quarries, which had long been fenced off, and this led to several accidents.
Rugby Cement
Rugby Cement was the common name for a company based principally in Rugby, Warwickshire, which produced portland cement. With its origins in the early 19th century, the company was founded in 1862 as the Rugby Lias Lime & Cement Company Ltd befor ...
, who owned the site, built a substantial galvanised steel paling fence round a large part of the former quarries at a cost of roughly £70,000.
Since this in 2009 two further unpopular fences at a cost of a further £70,000 have been erected around the two other pits locally known as; The Square Pit and the Long Pit, due to their shapes. The long pit is estimated to be 35 meters deep. As part of the wildlife preserve, which features rare
Butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
species, many changes have been undertaken at the site since 2008. This has caused a lot of upset to locals. In 2017 the
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
siding for the old
cement works
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
has been unearthed and reinstated, this has also unearthed some remnants of the old cement works, a new bridge over the siding where the railway line used to cross it has also been erected.
Gallery of images
Image:stockton-001.jpg, The sign on the road from Napton; note the image of an ichthyosaurus
Image:StocktonPostOfficeWarwickshire.jpg, The post office in the centre of the village and, right, the village school
References
*Warwickshire Towns & Villages, Geoff Allen, 2000
External links
Stockton Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in Warwickshire