Stody is a village and a

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 authorit ...

in 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

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 ...

. The village is west south west of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

, north north west of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and north north east of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. The village lies south west of the town of Holt. The nearest railway station is at

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...

for the Bittern Line which runs between

and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.

History

Stody has an entry 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 manus ...

of 1085. In the great book Stody is recorded by the name ‘’Estodeia’’ and “Stodeia it is said to be in the ownership of the King. The main tennent was Humphrey from Ranulf brother of Ilger. The survey also notes that there were three mills, three

Beehives A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

and sixty Goats. The name Stody derives from “an enclosure for horses”, the modern English word 'stud' comes from the same root

Stody Estate

*Stody Estate, The Earl of Lothian owned this estate in the latter part of the nineteenth century along with the nearby Blickling Estate. In 1932 the estate was purchased by

Lord Rothermere Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in th ...

who built the existing house after the original house was largely destroyed by fire. The estate was sold to George Knight and Fritz Knight in 1941 and is farmed by George Knight's stepson's family today. The land is all in hand. By today's standards the farm is quite diverse, but 40 years ago the estate was well known for its pedigree herds and flocks, fruit farm, poultry and flowers.
Stody Lodge Gardens
open each year in May. The gardens consist of of Rhododendron and Azalea gardens.

The Parish Church of Mary

The Parish Church of Saint Mary is constructed from flint and has a 14th-century round tower. There is a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and two

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s and a fine example of cross-vaulting at the point of the intersection. The church has a collection of 15th-century stained glass figures. They are set high in the lights of the north side windows, and in the east side of the south transept. At the west end of the church there is a 13th-century Purbeck marble font.The King’s England series, NORFOLK, by Arthur Mee, Pub:Hodder and Stoughton,1972, page 290 Stody, The church is a Grade I listed buildin

Notable people

* Thomas Pyle, The Reverend Thomas Pyle was born at Stody in 1674 and died

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

, Norfolk, 31 December 1756 and was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

clergyman and religious controversialist.

External links

St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches website
In 2014, Allen Lambert the Gamekeeper of the estate was successfully prosecuted for poisoning 10 buzzards and 1 sparrowhawk.
RSPB report on case.
In 2018, Stody Estate was exonerated from any implication in the crimes of their previous employe
Farmers Weekly Article

References

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk