Stoke on Tern

File:Coat of arms of John de Lacy, Lord of Pontefract Castle1.png

Stoke on Turn was a substantial Domesday manor well-established by at least the later 1000s. Roger de Lacy is recorded as holding it, and the presence of priest here in the 11th century suggest a church was already present and this was a principle manor for the de Lacys (and their successors the de Say and Vernon families). There are records of a moat that is square, of significant scald, in the area of the church. This could be a lordly house of the 1200s/1300s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/3196.html|title=Stoke upon Tern (The Gatehouse Record)}}

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The Anglican Church of St Peter, Stoke on Tern, has a Sunday service every other week and a Wednesday prayer meeting four times a month.[https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/4229/service-and-events/events-regular/ A Church Near You. Retrieved 7 November 2019.] The church building (1874–1875) and some concurrent and earlier features to be found in and around it are Grade II listed.[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1055316 Historic listing. Retrieved 7 November 2019.][https://www.theunitedbenefice.com/stoke-on-tern Benefice site. Retrieved 7 November 2019.] There is a war memorial listing the First World War victims of Stoke and Hodnet held in St Luke's Church, Hodnet.[https://www.militaryimages.net/media/stoke-on-tern-war-memorial-shropshire.58257/ Military images. Retrieved 7 November 2019.]

File:Stoke-on-tern_Church,_Corbet_Monument.jpg

One of the most important artifacts in the church is the Corbet family monument, which dates from the third quarter of the 16th century, and furnishes Stoke on Tern with connections to the family of William Shakespeare (and the setting of his play As You Like It and individuals potentially memorialised in that work and others) as well as the project to deliver the Geneva Bible.

File:Geneva_Bible.jpg

The monument was raised to Reginald Corbet (d. 1566), a notable lawyer in the Tudor period, and his wife Alice Gratewood.

Alice was an heiress of her uncle Sir Rowland Hill of Soulton, who published the Geneva Bible{{Cite web |title=Soulton Hall |url=https://www.historichouses.org/house/soulton-hall/ |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=Historic Houses |language=en-GB}} and is considered the inspiration for the character Old Sir Rowland in As You Like It,{{Cite web |last=Austin |first=Sue |date=2023-11-08 |title=Shropshire's remarkable connections with Shakespeare are fascinating |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/north-shropshire/2023/11/09/shropshires-remarkable-connections-with-shakespeare-are-fascinating/ |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=www.shropshirestar.com |language=en}} which is also understood to be inspired by this part of Shropshire, which is in on the edge of the Forest of Arden, the play's setting. These links to Shakespeare continue in the marriage of one of the daughters of the marriage represented in the tomb, when their daughter Elizabeth Corbett marries a son of the Arden family, of which Shakespeare's mother Mary is part.{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/shakespeareanag00frengoog#page/n483/mode/2up | title=Shakspeareana genealogica | date=1869 }}

File:FirstFolioAsYouLikeIt.jpg

More specifically, Edward Arden of Park Hall, Castle Bromwich, was Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1575 and was the son of William Arden (d. 1545) was a second cousin of Mary Shakespeare. In 1583, he came under suspicion for being head of a family that had remained loyal to the Catholic Church, and was sentenced for allegedly plotting against Elizabeth I. His son, Robert Arden also of Park Hall (b. 1553) married Elizabeth Corbett (b. 1551), the great niece and heiress of Sir Rowland Hill and this alliance with important Protestant families was important in repairing the standing if the ancient Arden family.

Reginald held several Staffordshire and Shropshire manors, including Stoke.{{Cite ODNB|last=Archer|first=Ian|year=2004|title=Hill, Sir Rowland (c.1495–1561)|id=13296}}

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The village straddles the River Tern, which flows through the south and west of the village. The parish includes the smaller settlements of Eaton upon Tern, Ollerton, Stoke Heath and Wistanswick.[http://www.stokeuponternparish.org.uk/community/stoke-upon-tern-parish-council-10148/home Parish site. Retrieved 6 November 2019.] Its population of 1,740 in 440 households at the time of the 2001 census[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=798934&c=tern&d=16&e=15&g=482058&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1287434926902&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 Stoke upon Tern CP], Office for National Statistics rose to 2,034 in 492 households at the 2011 Census.{{Cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11129146&c=Stoke+upon+Tern&d=16&e=62&g=6460405&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1448899688906&enc=1 |title=Civil Parish population 2011 |access-date=30 November 2015}} It was estimated to be 2,431 in 2019.[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/westmidlands/admin/shropshire/E04011368__stoke_upon_tern/ City Population site. Retrieved 22 November 2020.]

File:Stoke_on_Tern_bus_stop.jpg

File:Langley_Dale_Stoke_on_Tern.jpg

Stoke has a four-class primary school with a nursery attached.[http://www.stokeonternschool.org.uk/ Primary School site. Retrieved 7 November 2019.] It continued to be graded "good" after a short Ofsted inspection in January 2018.[https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/123399 Ofsted page for Stoke. Retrieved 7 November 2019.][https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/123399/stoke-on-tern-primary-school/primary Government school info. Retrieved 7 November 2019.]

The nearest medical centre is at Hodnet (2.6 miles/4.2 km).[https://www.hodnetmedicalcentre.co.uk/ Medical centre site. Retrieved 7 November 2019.] The nearest shopping facilities and other amenities are at Market Drayton (6.5 miles/10.5 km).

Since 2020 there has been no bus service serving the village, although the 341 and 342 routes between Market Drayton and Telford via Childs Ercall were operated by Arriva Midlands until 2016. There have been petitions to reinstate the service.{{Cite news |title=Shropshire bus cuts are 'bad news', say passengers |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2016/02/10/shropshire-bus-cuts-are-bad-news-say-passengers/ |publisher=Shropshire Star |date=10 February 2016 |access-date=6 February 2020}} The village's nearest bus stop is now in Hodnet, with bus links to Shrewsbury and Market Drayton.

The edges of the parish are crossed by the main A53 and A41 roads.

• William Hill, (d. 1585) the priest of the parish in the middle 1500s, brother of Sir Rowland Hill, Geneva Bible publisher; possibly a royal chaplin.
• Benjamin Whichcote (1609–1683), Puritan divine and 19th Provost of King's College, Cambridge, was born at Whichcote Hall, Stoke on Tern."The Christian's duty is to regard with charity the views of other Christians, however mistaken he takes them to be." [https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/whichcote-benjamin-1609-1683 Encyclopedia.com site. Retrieved 7 November 2019.]

• Listed buildings in Stoke upon Tern

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Category:Villages in Shropshire

Category:Civil parishes in Shropshire