![Church of St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Church_of_St._Mary_the_Virgin%2C_Stratfield_Saye.JPG)
Stratfield Saye is a small
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
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
Borough of Basingstoke and Deane and the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. The parish includes the hamlets of West End Green, Fair Oak Green and Fair Cross.
Etymology
The name means 'Street-Field of the Saye family'. The street was the
Devil's Highway, the
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
from
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 ...
to
Calleva Atrebatum
Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain.
The modern villa ...
(
Silchester) which forms the northern parish boundary. Some older sources use the alternative spelling Strathfieldsaye, Stratford Saye, and Stratford Sea.
Stratfield Saye House
Stratfield Saye House is a large stately home at Stratfield Saye in the north-east of the English county of Hampshire. It has been the home of the Dukes of Wellington since 1817.
Early history
The line of the Roman Road the Devil's Highway ( ...
was built around 1630 as the Pitt family home, from fortunes made by
Thomas "Diamond" Pitt. In the late 18th century the family were closely related to the Prime Ministers,
William Pitt the Elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...
and
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
. It has been the home of the
Dukes of Wellington
Duke of Wellington is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The name derived from Wellington in Somerset. The title was created in 1814 for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington (1769–1852; born as The Hon. Arthur Wesley), t ...
since 1817.
The church
![Church of St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Church_of_St._Mary_the_Virgin%2C_Stratfield_Saye_front.jpg)
The
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
, near the house, is an unusual domed
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
building with the plan of a
Greek Cross
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
. It contains
memorials
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, Tragedy (event), tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objec ...
to the
Barons Rivers and to most of the Dukes of Wellington, except the famous
first duke. His
funerary hatchment
A funerary hatchment is a depiction within a black lozenge-shaped frame, generally on a black (''sable'') background, of a deceased's heraldic achievement, that is to say the escutcheon showing the arms, together with the crest and supporters ...
may, however, be seen.
James Gerald Joyce (1819-78) was rector here from 1855 until his death. His interests were in archaeology and he led excavations at
Calleva Atrebatum
Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain.
The modern villa ...
where he discovered the
Silchester eagle in 1866. His wife
Ellen Joyce
Hon. Ellen Joyce CBE CStJ born Ellen Rice (12 January 1832 – 21 May 1924) was a British organiser of women's emigration from the UK. She started and ran the British Women's Emigration Association.
Life
She was the eldest child of Francis Rice, ...
was notable for her support of women emigrating to the empire.
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Hampshire