Stratford Tony, also spelt Stratford Toney, formerly known as Stratford St Anthony and Toney Stratford, is a small village and
civil parish in southern
Wiltshire, England. It lies on the
River Ebble and is about southwest of
Salisbury.
[Stratford Tony]
at genuki.org.uk
Geography
The parish is narrow in the east–west direction. To the south it extends onto high chalk
downland, which is crossed by the
A354 Salisbury-Weymouth road. In the north the parish boundary is the
Shaftesbury Drove; now a
byway, this was formerly used to drive cattle and other livestock from
Shaftesbury to markets at Salisbury and beyond.
Salisbury Racecourse
Salisbury Racecourse is a flat racecourse in the United Kingdom featuring thoroughbred horse racing, southwest of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Fifteen race meetings a year are held there between early May and mid-October.
History
Racing a ...
is just over the boundary, and some of its facilities are in the parish.
Stratford Toney Down, south of the village, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its botanically rich chalk grassland.
History
After the
Norman Conquest, the
Chalke Valley
The River Chalke is a small river within the English county of Wiltshire. It is the most significant tributary of the River Ebble.
The river rises at Mead End near Bowerchalke and flows 1.2 miles north through the Chalke Valley to join the Ebbl ...
was divided into eight manors which were granted to new Norman lords. The
Domesday
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 ...
survey in 1086 recorded an estate at Stradford with 28 households and two mills, held by Earl Aubrey of Coucy.
''The National Gazetteer'' (1868) said of the parish:
The area of the parish was reduced in 1885 when land was transferred to
Britford
Britford is a village and civil parish beside the River Avon about south-east of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The village is just off the A338 Salisbury-Bournemouth road. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 592.
Geography
...
,
Coombe Bissett, and
Homington parishes.
Stratford Tony House, west of the church, has a 17th-century core behind a five-bay front of c.1730. Nearby is a timber-framed barn from the late 18th century. Towards the north end of the village, the manor house carries a date of 1833; it was built for
George Purefoy-Jervoise
George Purefoy-Jervoise (10 April 1770 – 1 December 1847) was an English politician.
He was the eldest son of Rev. George Hudleston Jervoise Purefoy Jervoise of Britford, Wiltshire. He was educated at Westminster School in 1781–1786 and Co ...
(1770–1847), landowner and member of parliament.
The population of the parish peaked at around 165 in the 1860s and has declined since then.
Parish church
The
Church of England parish church of St Mary and St Lawrence is designated a Grade I
listed building and is in the care of the
Churches Conservation Trust. There is a
canonical sundial on the south wall. Its
parish registers survive in the
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre for christenings, 1605–1985, marriages, 1562–1983, and burials, 1562–1988.
[
]
Local government
The civil parish does not elect a parish council. Instead the first tier of local government is a parish meeting, which all electors are entitled to attend. The parish is in the area of Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority which is responsible for most significant local government functions.
Notable residents
John Bampton
John Bampton (16902 June 1751) was an English churchman, for some time canon of Salisbury.
Biography
Bampton was a member of Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. in 1712. He became rector of Stratford Tony in Wiltshire.Sidney Leslie O ...
(1690–1751) was rector from 1718 until his death. He left money to establish the Bampton Lectures at Oxford University, which continue to be given every second year.
The Impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
painter Wilfrid de Glehn (1870–1951) and his wife Jane Emmet (1873–1961, also a painter) lived at Stratford Tony manor house from 1942.
References
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Villages in Wiltshire
Civil parishes in Wiltshire