Local History

Our beginnings are in the mists of time. A riverside village with agricultural roots. South Stoke is mentioned in The Doomsday book. Our claim to fame were our eels at which Remigius, the then Bishop of Dorchester declared we were” to be put into the Dorchester 100, for ever and a day”.

Under the instruction of William II and Henry I we were taken out of the Bishop of Lincolns holdings(the centre had moved from Dorchester to Lincoln) and given to the monks of Eynsham Abbey, the jewel in their crown. As they only ate white meat we had fishponds for carp, a dovecote and rabbit warrens. Goods were transported up river to Eynsham.

The present church has 13th century beginnings. At the dissolution of the monasteries we were given to Christ Church in Oxford by Henry VIII who appointed the Lords of the Manor and our vicars. They still own most of the land in the parish, but started selling houses in 1950’s to pay for their new library. As the cottages were sold over the years these have been renovated and extended. Now they are out of the price range of local villagers. Agricultural labourers are a thing of the past as Manor Farm is using contractors and The Old Vicarage using its buildings as workshops.
We were self sufficient having 3 pubs, 3 shops (one, a butcher cum Post Office and General stores), a forge, a granary, a Malt house, a Chapel to rival the Church and the school. We have lost all except the Church, the school and the Perch and Pike pub. Nowadays work is found outside the village.

Our most famous son is Griffith Higgs, who was chaplain to the Winter Queen in The Hague, then, to her brother Charles I with whom he was imprisoned in Oxford castle and had to forfeit his money and books before his release by Cromwell. We still benefit from his generosity, setting up charities in the parish which are still valid today and giving money to buy land for a school. It is thought he lived at The Corner House, whose leaning wing is 15th century.

More details on teh history of South Stoke can be found here http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63771