Stoke Charity is a small village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Wonston, in the

City of Winchester Winchester (), or the City of Winchester, is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Hampshire, England. The district is named after its main settlement of Winchester, which ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. It is on the River Dever, its nearest town is

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, which lies approximately 6.1 miles (9.9 km) south-west from the village. In 1931 the parish had a population of 111. In past centuries, the manor was also known as Old Stoke, still remembered in the street name "Old Stoke Road".

History

Stoke Charity is mentioned 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 ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Stoches''. It appears as ''Stokecharite'' circa 1270. It was held by Henry de la Charite in the thirteenth century, so 'Charity' is thus a family name. In 904,

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (870s?17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousi ...

probably granted the area of the present parish to

Hyde Abbey Hyde Abbey was a medieval Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was dissolved and demolished in 1538 following various acts passed under King Henry VIII to dissolve monasteries and abbeys (see Dis ...

as part of the manor of

Micheldever Micheldever is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, situated north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever . The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and ...

. The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church of St Mary and St Michael dates mainly from the 12th and 13th centuries. According to the church's guidebook, the Norman nave and chancel may have been added to a small Saxon church to form the north aisle of an enlarged church. The church stands in a field just to the east of the village. Stoke Charity also had a manor house and home farm, which employed most of the population as farm labourers up until the late 19th century.

Watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Eurasia. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetabl ...

beds were well developed and numerous in Stoke Charity until recently. These were fed by the River Dever, which is a tributary of the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's vall ...

. Some watercress beds have been brought back into use as of 2020. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Wonston.

References

External links

Villages in Hampshire Former civil parishes in Hampshire Wonston {{Hampshire-geo-stub