Stoke Rochford is a small English 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 ...

south of

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

in the

South Kesteven South Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. It covers Bourne, Lincolnshire, Bourne, Grantham, Market Deeping and Stamford, Li ...

district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 230 (including Easton). It has two notable Grade I listed buildings: Stoke Rochford Hall and the doubly dedicated St Mary and St Andrew's Church.

History

Stoke Rochford church was originally dedicated to St Mary. The village was originally called ''South Stoke'' until the expansion of the park in 1843, when ''North Stoke'' was removed. The village was laid out in 1843 to complement the architectural scheme of the new hall, built for Christopher Turnor by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...

."A Short History of Stoke Rochford Hall"

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

for Stokerochfordhall.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2012 The dedication of North Stoke church to St Andrew was transferred, so that the church in Stoke Rochford has a double dedication. North and South Stoke belonged to the historical

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...

of Winnibriggs and Threo. Dawn at Stoke Rochford Hall - geograph

Hall

Stoke Rochford Hall, designed by

and built in 1845, was gutted by fire on 25 January 2005. It is now the

NUT Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

's national training centre, as well as a hotel and a venue for conferences and wedding receptions. On 28 April 1945 a Canadian (RCAF)

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

crashed in the grounds of the hall. In December 2009 the hall was named the Les Routiers ''Best Country Retreat'' in the UK.

Lost villages

The

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...

of Ganthorpe, mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, is now known only as a field name in the park: Ganthrops. North Stoke (Nortstoches) is mentioned in the Domesday survey as a possession of Earl Morcar, claimed by the Norman baron, Drew de Beurere. It survived until the 19th century, when it was cleared for the creation of the current park. The remains of a Saxon cross from the old church, discovered after its demolition, are in Stoke Rochford Church.

Geography

For administrative purposes the parish is combined with Easton, which also has a country estate. Stoke Rochford's church is in the parish of Easton, as is the post office. The southern boundary of the parish follows the road, east–west, that crosses the A1. The parish extends westwards to the Leicestershire boundary and the north edge of Saltby Airfield near the

Viking Way The Viking Way is a long distance trail in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland. History The route was officially opened on Sunday 5 September 1976 at Tealby, by the Deputy Chairman of Lincoln ...

. It follows the Lincolnshire boundary northwards for about . North of the parish is

Wyville cum Hungerton __NOTOC__ Wyville is a village in the civil parish of Wyville cum Hungerton, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, and situated approximately south-west from Grantham The whole parish covers about . The population is inc ...

. The parish extends about north of the village to North Lodge Plantation, where there is a bend westwards in the A1 as it approaches

Great Ponton Great Ponton is an English village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, south of Grantham on the A1 trunk road, which bisects the village. The tower of the parish church is a roadside landmark. The 2001 Census re ...

, which is the parish north of Stoke Rochford. The parish extends east to the point where

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln (''Lindum Colonia'') and York (''Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas'', ...

meets the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

. The bridge is just inside Great Ponton parish. Just under a mile of the line is in the parish, including the Stoke Tunnel. Just to the east is Stoke Tunnel Farm, which is in

Bitchfield and Bassingthorpe Bitchfield and Bassingthorpe is a civil parish which includes Boothby Pagnell and Burton Coggles in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 154 across 59 homes. By the 2011 census ...

. Just south of Stoke Tunnel is Highdyke Farm. South of here is the large Stoke Park Wood, and the eastern boundary here follows the railway line until it meets Easton parish, just south of Old Park Wood. Here it also borders with Burton Coggles, just north of Sleight's Wood. The Cringle Brook flows northwards from the village, and on the opposite side of the A1 is the

River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversid ...

Transport

21 year old Johnny Rogers (born 1941) of Cheshunt, the bass player of

The Roulettes The Roulettes were a British rock and roll and beat group formed in London in 1961. They were recruited to play as the backing group to singer Adam Faith the following year, and continued to perform and record until the late 1960s. History The ...

, was killed in the early hours of Monday 27 May 1963, travelling to Sunderland, when their

Bedford Dormobile Dormobile is a 1950s-era onwards campervan (motorcaravan, motorhome) conversion manufactured by the coachbuilder Martin Walter of Folkestone in Kent. Initially based on the Bedford CA van, the name is associated more with those and subsequent ...

hit a stationary lorry on the northbound carriageway of the dual carriageway. The driver was 21 year old Peter Cotter of

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

. Their previous show had taken place on Monday, at the Empire Theatre. The lorry was having its wheel changed, with driver Joseph Lovejoy of London.

Community

Geograph-452886-Stoke-Rochford-Church-by-gary-radford

Stoke Rochford is part of the grouped parish council of Stoke Rochford and Easton. The

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

has same name, and is part of the Colsterworth Group in the

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

Beltisloe Beltisloe is a Deanery of the Diocese of Lincoln in England, and a former Wapentake. The Wapentake of Beltisloe was established as ancient administrative division of the English county of Lincolnshire before the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leices ...

. The former incumbent was the Rev. E. J. Lomax and a new appointment is expected in due course. The parish church, dedicated to

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

and

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, also serves as the parish church for Easton."Stoke Rochford W Easton PCC"
, Diocese of Lincoln, Retrieved 26 May 2012 The village has a post office and a golf club. Adjacent to the latter on the A1 is a filling station and cafeteria.

Notable people

Notable current residents of Stoke Rochford are Geoff Capes and

Lady Sarah McCorquodale Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia McCorquodale (''née'' Spencer; born 19 March 1955) is one of the two older sisters of Diana, Princess of Wales, the other being Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes. Early life Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer was born ...

. Stoke Rochford was the birthplace of Fanny Margaret Taylor, who as Magdalen Taylor founded the

Poor Servants of the Mother of God The Poor Servants of the Mother of God are a religious congregation founded in 1869 by Mary Magdalen of the Sacred Heart, Frances Margaret Taylor. She was closely assisted by her friend and benefactor Lady Georgiana Fullerton, and following her de ...

, a Catholic order of nuns, in 1872.''A Brief Life of Mother Magdalen Taylor'' by Sr Rose Joseph Kennedy SMG (St Mary's Convent, Brentford, 2008).

References

External links

*
"Church of St Mary and St. Andrew, Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire"
Ntlworld.com
Hall re-opens in September 2008Memorial service for 1945 Lancaster crash in November 2006Commonwealth teachers meeting in September 2004Lib Dem education conference in February 2001

Video links

Stoke Rochford
Retrieved 18 December 2010 {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire South Kesteven District