Stoke Row

Stoke Row is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire and about 9 miles (14 km) north of Reading. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 651.[1]

Stoke Row

St John the Evangelist parish church
Stoke Row
Location within Oxfordshire
Area6.08 km2 (2.35 sq mi)
Population651 (2011 Census)
• Density107/km2 (280/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU6884
Civil parish
  • Stoke Row
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHenley-on-Thames
Postcode districtRG9
Dialling code01491
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteStoke Row

History

The earliest known surviving record of the name is from 1435. Stoke is a common place-name derived from Old English, typically meaning a secondary settlement or outlying farmstead. With the affix "row" it means a "row of houses at Stoke".[2]

Stoke Row was a hamlet divided between the ancient parishes, and later civil parishes, of Ipsden, Newnham Murren and Mongewell. It was made a chapelry in 1849.[3] From 1932 it was divided between Ipsden and Crowmarsh, into which Newnham Murren and Mongewell were merged.[4] In 1952 Stoke Row was made a new civil parish.[5]

Parish church
Grave of a Free Czechoslovak airman in St John's parish churchyard

The Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist was consecrated in 1846.[6] It was designed in 13th-century style by the architect RC Hussey[7] and is built of knapped flint with stone dressings. The church has a north tower with an octagonal belfry and short spire with a wood shingle roof.[8] The ecclesiastical parish is now a member of The Langtree Team Ministry: a Church of England benefice that includes also the parishes of Checkendon, Ipsden, North Stoke, Whitchurch-on-Thames and Woodcote.[9]

Stoke Row Independent Chapel
Stoke Row Independent Chapel

History

There is a history of Dissenters meeting in the village.[10] Dissenters had been meeting in the village since 1691, when they gathered in the drawing room of a local farmhouse. Stoke Row Independent Chapel was built in 1815. It is a simple red brick Georgian building with flint footings and a hipped roof of slate.[11] In 1884 Sunday school room was built at the back of the chapel.[12]

In the early years services were conducted by visiting ministers or licensed lay preachers, but in 1955 a wealthy local farmer, who had been a lifelong strong supporter, bequeathed a large piece of land opposite the chapel and on this houses were built. The resulting finance enabled a house to be built for the Minister and for chapel modernisation, including modern heating and an extension built in 1956[12] that includes a kitchen and toilets. A trust was also established and this still provides for the upkeep of the exterior of both buildings.

In 1978 Padre Bernard Railton Bax took over the ministry. His work was continued, after his death in 1990, by Rev John Harrington and his wife Nina. Mrs Harrington died in 1996 and Rev Harrington retired at the age of 87, after 13 years of service.

The chapel has always been independent, but it has neighbourly links with the local Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist. There was once a move to integrate with the Congregational Church, but the plan did not materialise. The chapel has an ecumenical attitude and residential Ministers in recent years have included those from various church traditions, including Baptist, Church of the Nazarene and several from a United Reformed Church background.

In June 2015 an outdoor service was held, attended by many villagers, to celebrate the chapel's bicentenary. The congregation sat in a marquee in the chapel grounds and sang hymns with accompaniment from the Reading Central Salvation Army brass band. Rev David and Rev Sonya Jackson gave readings and led prayers, as did Rev Kevin Davies, the minister for Henley deanery. The service was followed by a village picnic. A celebration cake was cut by 95-year-old Ken Jago, the oldest member of the congregation.[13]

Ministers
  • 1959–65: Pastor Ernest Dickerson
  • 1967–72: Rev John Potts
  • 1973–75: Rev Arthur Tilling
  • 1977–90: Rev Padre Bernard Railton Bax
  • 1990–2004: Rev John Harrington
  • 2004–10: Rev David Holmwood
  • 2010–16: Revs David and Sonia Jackson
  • 2016– present: Rev Mark Taylor

Maharajah's Well
The Maharajah's Well, with Well Cottage behind the hedge on the right
Maharajah's well cupola with wording "His Highness the Maharajah of Benares"
Maharajah's Well - golden elephant inside

Edward Anderton Reade, the local squire at Ipsden, had worked with the Maharajah of Benares in India in the mid-nineteenth century. Under Reade's leadership, a well was sunk in 1831 to aid the community in Azamgarh.

Reade left the area in 1860, and after his departure, the Maharajah decided to make a contribution to Reade's home area in England. Recalling Reade's help in creating the Azimgurgh well in 1831 and his stories of water deprivation in his home area of Ipsden the Maharajah commissioned the well at Stoke Row and it was sunk in 1863.[7]

The Wallingford firm of RJ and H Wilder made the well mechanism in 1863[14] and completed the pavilion over the well in 1864.[15] The pavilion is open-sided with a cupola on top and a golden-coloured elephant above the well mechanism. The well and pavilion can be seen in a small park on the north side of the main road through Stoke Row village.

Amenities
The Cherry Tree Inn

The village has two 17th-century pubs: the Cherry Tree Inn, a Brakspear tied house[16][17] and the Crooked Billet[18] a free house.[19] Built in 1642 the pub is reputed to have once been the hideout of highwayman Dick Turpin, who was said to have been romantically attached to the landlord's daughter, Bess.[20] It was England's first gastropub and was the venue for Titanic star Kate Winslet's wedding reception. In June 1989 the British progressive rock band Marillion played its first performance with Steve Hogarth as frontman at the pub; a documentary DVD called From Stoke Row To Ipanema – A Year In The Life was subsequently produced.[21]

The Crooked Billet pub

In the 1851 Census the head of the household at No 1 Stoke Row was George Hope, who built "The Hope" public house.[22] This was later called "The Farmer" and today is Hope House, at the junction of Main Street with Nottwood Lane.

The parish has a Church of England primary school.[23]

Notable residents
  • George Cole (1925–2015), actor, lived in Stoke Row for more than 70 years.[24]
  • Carol Decker (born 1957), former singer of T'Pau, used to be landlady of The Cherry Tree Inn.
  • Nick Heyward (born 1961), singer-songwriter and guitarist, currently lives in the village.[25]

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Stoke Row Parish (1170217830)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  2. Watts 2010, Stoke Row
  3. Wilson 1870–72,
  4. "Crowmarsh CP". Vision of Britain. University of Portsmouth.
  5. "Stoke Row CP". Vision of Britain. University of Portsmouth.
  6. Lewis 1848, pp. 220–224.
  7. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 789
  8. Historic England. "Church of St John the Evangelist  (Grade II) (1369052)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  9. "Locations". The Langtree Team Ministry. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  10. "Journals of the House of Lords". 1833. p. 306.
  11. "Independent Chapel". Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  12. Historic England. "Stoke Row Independent Chapel  (Grade II) (1271461)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  13. "Celebrating 200 years of worship". Henley Standard. Higgs Group. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  14. Williamson 1983
  15. Historic England. "Maharajah's Well  (Grade II) (1180547)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  16. Cherry Tree Inn
  17. Historic England. "Cherry Tree public house  (Grade II) (1059327)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  18. Historic England. "The Crooked Billet public house  (Grade II) (1180667)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  19. The Crooked Billet
  20. "Past and Present". The Crooked Billet. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  21. "Steve Hogarth's first Marillion Gig at The Crooked Billet". Archived from the original on 5 June 2012.
  22. "Stoke Row Census Return 1851". Angela Spencer-Harper. February 2002.
  23. Stoke Row Church of England Primary School
  24. Ward, Victoria (31 August 2013). "Actor George Cole in dispute over local sawmill". Daily Telegraph.
  25. "Nick Heyward". Henley Life: 7. August 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

Sources
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