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North Stoke is one of a handful of pretty villages between Wallingford and
Goring. It has a population of about 200, which has remained stable for many
years.
To reach the quaint village street, pass the modern buildings and former council
houses on the B4009 and turn into Cook Lane, where in 1966 a few bungalows and
chalets were built on what used to be allotments. After a sharp right turn, The
Street appears very much as it has for many years, a mixture of farmhouses and
cottages. At the end of the street is the mill, over a stream called the Drincan,
flowing from the spring-fed lake to the north-east of the village. Until the
19th century the mill ground corn and provided meal for the villagers bread,
but latterly it harnessed the force of the stream to generate electricity to
light The Springs house. The mill later became derelict, but has now been
restored and is a private home. Beyond the mill the Ridgeway Path, which passes
through the village, leads along a bridle track towards Mongewell.
The old farmhouses, built mainly in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, have been
restored or extended and are now the comfortable homes of business or
professional people. How different from former times when all the inhabitants
were employed in the village, either on the farms, in the big houses or in
Robert Keens North Stoke Wagon Works that was in production from 1936 until it
moved to Wallingford in the late 1940s. There are still a few original cottages,
though some were demolished and others extended. Until the early 1960s, there
had been virtually no new building for many years.
The largest house in the village is The Springs. In the early part of the 20th
century the house was occupied by Sir John Wormald, who added to the house and
improved the beautiful grounds. He was a generous benefactor to the village,
providing it with a village hail and an excellent cricket ground. Unfortunately,
years later a subsequent owner had the cricket field ploughed up! Sir John was
said to be a man who liked, and usually got his own way. On Sunday mornings in
church, while sitting with his family in his front pew, he would ostentatiously
turn and scan the congregation to see who among his workers was missing! The
house became an old peoples home in the late 1950s and since about 1970 has
been an hotel.
From The Street, a short lane leads to the 13th century St Marys church. Inside
there are interesting wall paintings and a Jacobean pulpit. On the west side of
the church beneath the tower is a memorial to Dame Clara Butt, the singer, who
with her husband Robert Kennerley Rumford, lived at Brook Lodge from 1922.
There are still some in the village who remember, with pleasure, her rich
contralto voice. When possible she entered into village life and was, in fact,
the first president of the North Stoke WI. The lime-shaded lychgate at the
entrance to the churchyard, was given by Dame Clara in memory of one of her two
sons, both of whom died young.
The 17th century Rectory Farm House, next to the church, is one of several
houses built on this site, thought to be originally that of a Roman settlement.
This village has had its share of interesting characters, but none so eccentric
as the gentleman who in the 1920's kept lions at The Grange, and took them for
walks along the village street.
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