Rodney Stoke

History

Close to the village is Westbury Camp, which represents the remains of an Iron Age enclosed settlement and has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Rodney Stoke was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Stoches, meaning 'a stockaded settlement' from the Old English stoc. In 1291 the place name was recorded as Stokgifford. The Giffords were Saxon nobility at the time of Edward the Confessor with Walter Gifford (then spelt Gifard) as the Earl of Buckingham.

The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred.

The village was the home of, and is probably named after, Sir John Rodney (d. 1400). However Ekwall indicates that Stoke Gifford was held by Richard de Rodene in 1303.

The first Baron Rodney was George Brydges Rodney (1718/19–92), a British naval admiral of Napoleonic times.

It is one of the nine Thankful Villages in Somerset which suffered no fatalities during World War I. There is a memorial window in the Parish Church together with a new plaque that testifies to the village's enduring pride in their good fortune.

Governance

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the parish comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Mendip (established under the Local Government Act 1972). It was part of Wells Rural District before 1974.

The village is in the 'Rodney and Westbury' electoral ward. The ward starts in the north west at Draycott and passes through Rodney Stoke to end at Westbury-sub-Mendip. The total population of the ward as at the 2011 census was 2,127.

It is also part of the Wells and Mendip Hills county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Geography

The land is noteworthy for its importance as a flight corridor and feeding ground for the Greater Horseshoe Bat. Cheddar Complex, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies to the north and Mascalls' Wood, an ancient woodland and Somerset Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, lies to the west. The cross roads may be the site of an old Roman road.

Close to the village is the Rodney Stoke nature reserve, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Religious sites

The church of St Leonard, was built around 1175 and is a Grade I listed building. The interior of the church contains a screen, bearing the date 1624, the gift of Sir Edward Rodney, which includes a representation of the martyrdom of St Erasmus, who was killed by having his entrails removed.

Notable residents

• Edward Rodney (1590–1657), MP for Wells and Somerset at various times between 1621 and 1642, lived in Rodney Stoke and was buried there.
• John Rodney (died 1400), MP for Somerset, 1391–1393, lived in Rodney Stoke.
• Frances Southwell (died 1659), courtier and wife of Edward Rodney, lived in Rodney Stoke.
• Thomas Tremlett (1834–1894), first-class cricketer, was born in Rodney Stoke.

References

References

1. "Rodney Stoke Parish". Office for National Statistics.
2. "Walton Castle". Fortified England.
3. Firth, Hannah. (2007). "Mendip from the air". Somerset County Council.
4. "Westbury Camp hillfort, N of Stoke Woods, Rodney Stoke". [[Somerset County Council]] A.
5. Robinson, Stephen. (1992). "Somerset Place Names". The Dovecote Press Ltd.
6. "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI.
7. Ekwall, Eilert. (1959). "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Place-Names, 4th Edition". Oxford University Press.
8. Reid, Robert Douglas. (1979). "Some buildings of Mendip". The Mendip Society.
9. "Wells RD". University of Portsmouth.
10. "Rodney and Westbury ward 2011".
11. "Extensive Cropmarks, SW of Cheddar". Somerset County Council.
12. {{NHLE
13. "St Leonards Church". HEVAC Heritage.
14. Somerset Federation of Women's Institutes. (1988). "The Somerset Village Book". Countryside Books.