Stockerston is a 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Harborough district of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England, located on the border with

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

, by the Eye Brook. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 35. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census and is included in the

of Horninghold.

Topography

The Parish contains various woods including the large Bolt Wood and Park Wood, and the smaller Fishpond Spinney, Great Spinney, Little Merrible Wood, and Holyoaks Wood. Bolt Wood and Park Wood are fragments of the medieval Leighfield Forest and included in the

sites of special scientific interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

known as the Eye Brook Valley Woods.

History

Analysis of the name of the village name suggests it derives from the term 'made of wood'. Archaeologists state that the scatterings of Roman and Anglo-Saxon pottery discovered at Stockerston indicate occupation during that era. The village was in the Gartree Hundred and had two mentions 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. Stockerston is recorded as having two medieval hospitals. The first was established in 1307 and dedicated to St Leonard. The second was founded by John Boyville in 1465 and dedicated to St Mary and All Saints. In 1666, due to the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

, Anthony Tuckney (1599-1670), a notable English Puritan theologian, and

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

scholar, temporarily resided in the village. In 1840, there was a significant tithe commutation. From 1580 to 1807, the manor was held by the Burton family, whose memorials can be found in the parish church. There are ten listed buildings in the village: * Stockerston Hall * A pair of gate pillars at Harborough Hill Road * Stone Cottage * 28, Stockerston Road * The Spital * The Loophole, 46 Stockerston Road * Manor Farmhouse * The Lodge * The Church of Saint Peter * Manor Cottages, comprising The Cottage, Manor Cottage, Pedlar's Rest and Apple Cottage The two principal buildings in the village are the parish church (St Peter's) and Stockerston Hall.

St Peter's church

This Grade I Listed Building is situated on the north side of Church Lane, close to Stockerston Hall. The present structure was largely built in the 13th to 15th centuries. The windows contain some medieval stained glass and the memorials inside the church include a brass that commemorates John Boyville (died c.1467) and his wife. The inscription is recorded as ''orate pro animabus Johannis Boivile Armig. & Eliz. uxoris ejus, qui hoc campanile cum campanis fieri fecerunt, 1467'' (i.e. "pray for the souls of John Boivile, a bearer of arms, and Elizabeth his wife who had this bell tower and bells made"). - this is a revised edition of the book by the noted antiquary William Burton, which was first published in 1622.

References

External links

Stockerston church - brasses and monuments
Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District {{Leicestershire-geo-stub