Stoke Ferry 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

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, 6.5 miles south-east of

Downham Market Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 3 ...

. The village lies on the

River Wissey The River Wissey is a river in Norfolk, eastern England. It rises near Bradenham, and flows for nearly to join the River Great Ouse at Fordham. The lower are navigable. The upper reaches are notable for a number of buildings of historic int ...

, previously known as the River Stoke. It covers an area of and had a population of 896 in 358 households as of the

2001 UK Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, the population increasing to 1,020 at the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a local government district with borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 147,451. History The district was ...

. All Saints' Church is no longer used for church services. It is now owned by

Kit Hesketh-Harvey Kit may refer to: Places *Kitt, Indiana, US, formerly Kit * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Kit Hill, Cornwall, England People * Kit (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Kit (surname) Animals * Young animals: ...

. The village has many small businesses such as two takeaway shops, a

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...

, Wood Yard and a

corner shop A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery tick ...

. There was also previously a pub, which is currently raising money for reopening, as of April 2021.

Historical references

In 1805, Stoke Ferry is described as being "distant from London 88 miles 2 furlongs; on the

Stoke river The Stoke river (''in French: rivière Stoke'') is a tributary of the Saint-François River, in the administrative region of Estrie, on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River, in Quebec, Canada. The course of the Stoke River successively crosse ...

, which is navigable to this place from

the Ouse The Ouse is a tidal estuary in northern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape to its current geometry. The Ouse is fed by small rivulets and upland springs that rise on the w ...

. Fair, December 6...on the right, 5 m is the seat of Robert Wilson, esq. Inn, ''Crown''." The village was serving as a post town (under the name 'Stoke') by 1775; the name had been changed to 'Stoke Ferry' by 1816. A type of

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

known as an undated circle was issued to the village in 1828, and it had a

Penny Post The Penny Post is any one of several postal systems in which normal letters could be sent for one penny. Five such schemes existed in the United Kingdom while the United States initiated at least three such simple fixed rate postal arrangements. Un ...

service, under

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

(in Suffolk), between 1835 and 1840. Many photographs of the village can be found in a collection published in 2007 available to purchase at £4.95 from Bonnetts Hardware & DIY in the village.''Stoke Ferry Through Postcards Past'', by Pat Holton and Janet Stocking, 2007, 52 pages, . It once had its own Stoke Ferry railway station, the terminus of the

Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway The Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway was a branch line in western Norfolk, England. History The Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway (D&SF) was just over long. It was authorised on 24 July 1879, and opened on 1 August 1882, being worked by the Grea ...

, a branch from the main line between and .It stopped service in the early 1965. From the early 2000s it was used as a wood yard which moved to the new yard near Boughton it has since been derelict and had several owners. There is still a thriving Blacksmith's shop, Thomas B. Bonnett in the heart of the village that has been trading over 100 years. As well as Bespoke Ironwork, they also sell hardware, plumbing supplies, timber and steel. As well as a hairdressers, take aways and many other small businesses that help make Stoke Ferry recognisable.

Notes

External links

Stoke Ferry Website
Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub

Historical references

Notes

Further reading

External links