Stoke on Tern is a village located in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England, on the

River Tern The River Tern (also historically known as the Tearne) is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises north-east of Market Drayton in the north of the county. The source of the Tern is considered to be the lake in the grounds of Maer Hall, Staff ...

. The civil parish is known as Stoke upon Tern.

History

Stoke on Turn was a substantial

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

manor well-established by at least the later 1000s. Roger

de Lacy de Lacy (Laci, Lacie, Lascy, Lacey, Lassey) is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first reco ...

is recorded as holding it, and the presence of priest here in the 11th century suggest a church was already present and this was a principle manor for the de Lacys (and their successors the

de Say de Say (Saye, Sai) is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Sai, Orne. The first records are about William de Say and Picot de Say, Norman conquerors. The de Say family, held lands in England and France. Once settled and ...

and Vernon families). There are records of a moat that is square, of significant scald, in the area of the church. This could be a lordly house of the 1200s/1300s.

Church

The

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church of St Peter, Stoke on Tern, has a Sunday service every other week and a Wednesday prayer meeting four times a month. The church building (1874–1875) and some concurrent and earlier features to be found in and around it are Grade II listed. There is a war memorial listing the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

victims of Stoke and Hodnet held in St Luke's Church, Hodnet.

The Corbet Monument

One of the most important artifacts in the church is the

Corbet Corbet () is a small village and townland (of 618 acres) in County Down, Northern Ireland, 5 km east of Banbridge. It is situated in the civil parish of Magherally and the historic barony of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half. It lies within the B ...

family monument, which dates from the third quarter of the 16th century, and furnishes Stoke on Tern with connections to the family of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

(and the setting of his play ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'' and individuals potentially memorialised in that work and others) as well as the project to deliver the

Geneva Bible The Geneva Bible, sometimes known by the sobriquet Breeches Bible, is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the Douay Rheims Bible by 22 years, and the King James Version by 51 years. It was ...

The monument was raised to

Reginald Corbet Reginald Corbet (died 1566) was a distinguished lawyer in four reigns across the mid-Tudor period, and prospered throughout, although he seems to have been firmly Protestant in sympathy. He was appointed serjeant-at-law and Justice of the King ...

(d. 1566), a notable lawyer in the

Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...

, and his wife Alice Gratewood. Alice was an heiress of her uncle Sir Rowland Hill of

Soulton Soulton Hall is a Tudor architecture, Tudor country house near Wem, England. It was a 16th century architectural project of Rowland Hill (MP), Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bible. Hill was a statesman, polymath and philanthropist, ...

, who published the Geneva Bible and is considered the inspiration for the character Old Sir Rowland in ''As You Like It'', which is also understood to be inspired by this part of Shropshire, which is in on the edge of the

Forest of Arden The Forest of Arden is a territory and cultural reference point in the English West Midlands, that in antiquity and into the Early Modern Period covered much of that district: 'This great forest once extended across a wide band of Middle Engl ...

, the play's setting. These links to Shakespeare continue in the marriage of one of the daughters of the marriage represented in the tomb, when their daughter Elizabeth Corbett marries a son of the

Arden family The Arden family is an English gentry family that can be traced back in the male line to Anglo-Saxon landholders who managed to maintain status after the 1066 invasion of England by the Normans of France. The family held lands in Warwickshire, ...

, of which Shakespeare's mother

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

is part.

More specifically,

Edward Arden Edward Arden (c. 1542–1583) was an English nobleman and head of the Arden family, who became a Catholic martyr. Arden lived in Park Hall, Castle Bromwich, an estate near modern-day Birmingham. He was a recusant Catholic and kept a priest, H ...

of Park Hall, Castle Bromwich, was Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1575 and was the son of William Arden (d. 1545) was a second cousin of Mary Shakespeare. In 1583, he came under suspicion for being head of a family that had remained loyal to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and was sentenced for allegedly plotting against

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

. His son, Robert Arden also of Park Hall (b. 1553) married Elizabeth Corbett (b. 1551), the great niece and heiress of Sir Rowland Hill and this alliance with important Protestant families was important in repairing the standing if the ancient Arden family. Reginald held several Staffordshire and Shropshire manors, including Stoke.

Human and physical geography

The village straddles the

, which flows through the south and west of the village. The parish includes the smaller settlements of Eaton upon Tern,

Ollerton Ollerton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ollerton and Boughton, in the Newark and Sherwood district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. The p ...

, Stoke Heath and

Wistanswick Wistanswick ( ) is a small village, located in the parish of Stoke upon Tern in Shropshire, England. It is located in a rural area approximately five miles south of Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the ba ...

. Its population of 1,740 in 440 households at the time of the 2001 censusStoke upon Tern CP
Office for National Statistics rose to 2,034 in 492 households at the 2011 Census. It was estimated to be 2,431 in 2019.

Amenities and transport

Stoke has a four-class

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

with a nursery attached. It continued to be graded "good" after a short

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspection in January 2018. The nearest medical centre is at

Hodnet Hodnet ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. The town of Market Drayton lies 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north-east of the village. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1534. History Evidence of a ...

(2.6 miles/4.2 km). The nearest shopping facilities and other amenities are at

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...

(6.5 miles/10.5 km). Since 2020 there has been no bus service serving the village, although the 341 and 342 routes between

and

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

via Childs Ercall were operated by

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...

until 2016. There have been petitions to reinstate the service. The village's nearest bus stop is now in

, with bus links to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

and

. The edges of the parish are crossed by the main A53 and A41 roads.

Notable persons

*William Hill, (d. 1585) the priest of the parish in the middle 1500s, brother of Sir Rowland Hill, Geneva Bible publisher; possibly a royal chaplin. *

Benjamin Whichcote Benjamin Whichcote (March 1609 – May 1683) was an English Establishment and Puritan divine, Provost of King's College, Cambridge and leader of the Cambridge Platonists. He held that man is the "child of reason" and so not completely depra ...

(1609–1683),

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

and 19th

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, was born at Whichcote Hall, Stoke on Tern."The Christian's duty is to regard with charity the views of other Christians, however mistaken he takes them to be.
Encyclopedia.com site. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
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References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire