Stoke Ferry 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

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, 6.5 miles southeast of

Downham Market Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 ...

. The village lies on the

River Wissey The River Wissey is a river in Norfolk, eastern England. It rises near Bradenham, and flows for nearly to join the River Great Ouse at Fordham. The lower are navigable. The upper reaches are notable for a number of buildings of historic int ...

, previously known as the River Stoke. It covers an area of and had a population of 896 in 358 households as of the

2001 UK Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, the population increasing to 1,020 at the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The district also includes the t ...

. All Saints' Church, a Grade II listed building, was rebuilt by

William Donthorn William John Donthorn (Donthorne in some sources) (1799 – 18 May 1859) was an English architect, and one of the founders of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He was born in Swaffham, Norfolk. He was a pupil of Sir ...

. It is no longer used for church services and was owned by

Kit Hesketh-Harvey Christopher John Hesketh-Harvey (30 April 1957 – 1 February 2023) was a British musical performer, translator, composer, and screenwriter. Early life Born in Zomba, Nyasaland (now Malawi), Rhodesia and Nyasaland, into a Foreign Office fam ...

until his death in 2023. The village has many small businesses such as two takeaway shops, a

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A hairdresser may also be re ...

, wood yard, DIY hardware shop & metalworks workshop, funeral directors, and a

corner shop A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

. There is also a thriving community-owned pub, The Blue Bell Pub-Cafe which was bought by the local community on 30 June 2021 and, after extensive refurbishment reopened on 4 June 2022. Stoke Ferry Hall is a Grade II* listed building.

Historical references

In 1805, Stoke Ferry is described as being "distant from London 88 miles 2 furlongs; on the Stoke river, which is navigable to this place from

the Ouse The Ouse is a Tide, tidal estuary in northern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape to its current geometry. The Ouse is fed by small rivulets and upland springs that rise on ...

. Fair, December 6...on the right, 5 m is the seat of Robert Wilson, esq. Inn, ''Crown''." The village was serving as a post town (under the name "Stoke") by 1775; the name had been changed to "Stoke Ferry" by 1816. A type of

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

known as an undated circle was issued to the village in 1828, and it had a Penny Post service, under Brandon (in Suffolk), between 1835 and 1840. It once had its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, the terminus of the

Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway The Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway was a branch line in western Norfolk, England. History The Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway (D&SF) was just over long. It was authorised on 24 July 1879, and opened on 1 August 1882, being worked by the Gre ...

, a branch from the main line between and . It closed to passengers in 1930 but remained open for goods until 1965. From the early 2000s it was used as a wood yard which moved to its new home on Boughton Road North. The site of the old station is currently being developed as a housing complex which will retain its

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

buildings. There is still a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

's shop, Thomas B. Bonnett, in the heart of the village that has been trading over 100 years. As well as ironwork, they also sell hardware, plumbing supplies, timber and steel. As well as a hairdresser's, there are takeaways and many other small businesses that help make Stoke Ferry such a vibrant village. Many photographs of the village can be found in a collection published in 2007 available to purchase at £4.95 from Bonnett's Hardware & DIY in the village.''Stoke Ferry Through Postcards Past'', by Pat Holton and Janet Stocking, 2007, 52 pages, .

Notes

External links

Stoke Ferry Website
Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub

Historical references

Notes

Further reading

External links