 Stoke Bardolph
St Luke
History
The medieval period
The church we see today is relatively modern and was not built until 1844. However, from medieval sources we know that there may have been a church in Stoke Bardolph since at least 1086. Domesday Book identifies a church and a priest in Stoke Bardolph ('Stoches'), though also mentions Gedling, and notes that the church stood on Geoffrey de Alselin’s land. At the time the villages of Stoke Bardolph and Gedling had 15 villagers and 21 small holders; the taxable value before 1066 was 110s. but by 1066 it was £6. The dedication of this earlier church is unknown.
It seems that Stoke Bardolph always enjoyed a close association with Shelford to which it is nearer by about ¾ mile, albeit via a ferry. Domesday Book records that the Anglo-Saxon lord Toki held Shelford as well as Stoke Bardolph and many other places before the Norman Conquest. It is therefore no surprise that Shelford Priory evidently acquired possession of part of the village and church, probably from an early date in its foundation. However the king also held much land here as evidenced in a charter of 1202 by Matilda de Chauz and by an inquisition in 1391/2 which held that the king would suffer no loss from a grant of land in the village to the prior and convent of Shelford. In 1440/1 the manors of Shelford and Stoke Bardolph were classed together in the Inquisitionum Post Mortem.
In 1299 archbishop Henry of Newark heard a case involving a quarrel between John le Cupper and his wife of Nottingham. The hearing was at 'Stok' which, given the proximity to Nottingham, may have been Stoke Bardolph. The outcome was that the husband was found guilty and was ordered to pay £10 or be flogged on five days around Nottingham market if he should treat his wife badly.
In 1325, John de Grandisson was appointed archdeacon of Nottingham and Master John de la Launde as his official and vicar-general. The presentation of this commission to archbishop Melton with de la Launde's oath of obedience was made at 'Stok' which in this case could have been either East Stoke or Stoke Bardolph.
In 1377 one John de Whatton of Stoke Bardolph was granted a moiety of Cotgrave church by Richard II, by reason of the temporalities of the priory of Lenton then being in his hands on account of the war with France.
In 1403, Archbishop Scrope issued a confirmation, following examination of title, of the appropriation of Shelford Priory of a mediety of the church of Gedling with the chapel of Stoke Bardolph.
Stoke Bardolph is mentioned in few other medieval sources. This could be partly due to the fact that until the late 20th century the living of Gedling had Stoke Bardolph annexed to it. Gedling All Hallows is mentioned frequently in medieval sources whereas Stoke Bardolph is mentioned infrequently. Taxes were in all probability generally not applicable as the church was too poor. In addition, entries relating to Gedling All Hallows do not distinguish between All Hallows and the churches that were annexed to Gedling. For example, there is no explicit reference to Stoke Bardolph in either Archbishop Herring’s visitations of 1743 or Bishop Ridding’s visitations of 1892.
16th century sources
At the dissolution of Shelford Priory, the clear annual value of lands belonging to the priory in both Carlton and Stoke Bardolph are given as 40s. in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534. In 1537 the king granted the manors and lordships of various dissolved holdings, including those in Stoke Bardolph, to Michael Stanhope, and this may have included the church for although it is not specifically mentioned in the grant it does include 'all members and appurtenances in the towns, hamlets, &c. of the same'.
Although there are few sources that mention the older church a source from the 16th century does give us a better idea of what this church would have been like. The inventory of the church’s goods, belonging to Gedling Church ordered by Edward VI and dated 1552, describes the items of the older church in the following manner: ‘longynge to the chapyle of stoke Imp’ms one vestment of rede sylke wt a able lt a lyttlle belle’. Not only does this source help to confirm that St Luke’s is not the first church to have served Stoke Bardolph but it also gives us a better idea of what the older church was like. In addition, the source demonstrates the close relationship between Stoke Bardolph and Gedling, to which it was evidently a chapel-of-ease, and perhaps explains why there are so few sources explicitly mentioning the earlier church.
However, a littler earlier, in 1543, Stoke Bardolph is mentioned specifically as belonging with Gedling for the payment of 'Benevolence' money, ordered by King Henry VIII; this is the only tax record we have for this church.
17th century sources
A map of Stoke Bardolph from 1609 shows a church clearly marked near the site of the present church. The general layout of the village has not changed drastically over the years and so it is likely that St Luke’s lies very close to where the ancient church would have stood. In the 1950s the Peveril Archaeological Group uncovered substantial remains of the medieval manor house including stone footings and the main hall in the field lying to the south of the present church.
The original church is mentioned in Robert Thoroton’s Antiquities of Nottinghamshire of 1677, although the village is referred to as ‘Stoches’. Thoroton’s account says that after the conquest Goisfrid de Alselin became the landowner, as identified earlier in Domesday Book, and at the time ‘there was… a priest and a church…’ in the village. Unfortunately Thoroton’s account focuses on the genealogy of Stoke Bardolph’s residents rather than going into any more detail about the church. However, in John Throsby's edition of Thoroton, published in 1796, the Earl of Chesterfield is given as the patron and the incumbent one William Smelt rector of the first mediety.
19th century
The church we see today dates from 1844 and is a simple brick building with stone dressings. It consists of a western turret, a chancel, and a bell.
From the descriptions it seems as though the medieval church had ceased to exist some time previously.
The Nottingham Journal dating from 19th April 1844 described the new church:
‘Stoke… is situated… at a distance of between 2 and 3 miles from the Parish church. The inhabitants have, therefore, been subject to much inconvenience… To remedy this… the Earl of Chesterfield, having generously given the site, a neat little chapel has been erected by public subscription’.
The land St Luke’s is situated upon was donated by the Earl of Chesterfield specifically for the construction of a church. The church was funded partly by public subscription, as well as £25 from Earl Manvers and the Reverend C. Williams respectively. According to the newspaper account ‘on digging the foundations, several relics were discovered, which would lead to the conclusion that some ancient ecclesiastical building stood near the spot’. The relics included a fragment of an arch and part of the capital of a shaft, including three slender clustered columns of Early English style. Pevsner’s assessment that St Luke’s is built 'on the site of the medieval manor' is certainly misleading and the current church does appear to lie on the site of the ancient church. St Luke’s was consecrated on 16 April 1844 by the Bishop of Lincoln. The attendees included Archdeacon Wilkins and Archdeacon Browne.
Lascelles & Hagar’s Commercial Directory of Nottingham, 1848, provides a few more details about St Luke’s. The directory noted that there were two services on Sunday; one at half past two and the other at half past six. There was no fixed minister at the time. Wright’s Directory, 1894-5, noted that the living of Gedling had Stoke Bardolph annexed to it. At the time the rectory value was £715 a year. Kelly’s Directory, 1891, wrote that the parish of Stoke Bardolph was part of Basford Union.
St Luke’s is mentioned in a number of 19th century sources including the 1851 religious census. The census reported that the population of the village consisted of 100 men and 91 women. St Luke’s general congregation in the morning consisted of 50, including 20 Sunday scholars. The census also confirms that because St Luke’s was attached to the ‘mother church’ of Gedling it was considered as part of the rectory. At the time the Minister was the Rev. Charles Williams.
The census also mentions that a number of Stoke Bardolph’s residents were Wesleyan Methodists and they held their services and meetings in a residential house. The number of these Wesleyan Methodists is quoted at 50 in the evening, although there were no Sunday scholars. The Superintendent/Minister at this time was James Loutit.
20th century
Kelly’s Directory, 1904, records that the living of Gedling, including a rectory, a vicarage and Stoke Bardolph annexed to it, was worth a net yearly value of £791. Wright’s Directory, 1910-11, noted that Stoke Bardolph was annexed to the living of Gedling and the net yearly value was £791. By the time Wright’s Directory of 1915-16 was published the living of Gedling, with Stoke Bardolph annexed to it, was worth £900.
In 1903 a Southwell Diocese Visitation Report was published. St Luke’s was described as ‘sound but inadequate’ and in need of repair. Specifically, the report wrote that the font was broken and had no means to drain or a cover and the plate for Holy Communion was kept at the village inn. The Incumbent at the time was A.E. Bertie and the church wardens were Mr R. Butler and Mr A. Wainwright.
Stoke Bardolph is also mentioned in a later visitation, this time conducted by Edwyn Hoskyns, Bishop of Southwell, in 1912. The visitation tells us that the curate was B.R. Streeten and the net annual value of the benefice was £1,200, although once again this includes Gedling All Hallows. At the time of the visitation the church accommodation could house 60, there were no numbers on the roll for a church day school and there was no Sunday school. There were also no baptisms or confirmations in the year of 1912. The visitation suggests St Luke’s was a very small and local church with rites of passage taking place in Gedling.
After the 1903 Visitation it was decided that a number of improvements were to be made. These were completed in 1913 and included the extension of the chancel in 1910, a vestry harmonium chamber and an underground warming chamber. In addition, it was planned that the Holy Table be removed to the chancel and in its place an altar rail be placed on the step. Repair work was also done on the roof; defective slates were removed, gutters were fixed and the entrance doors were re-glazed.
Some of the repair work was funded by the local school, which closed in 1983 by which time it had few pupils. In 1911 the school organised a number of bazaars to raise money for the Stoke Church Restoration fund.
During the Great War a window was unveiled and dedicated to the memory of local man Lt. Colonel Fowler who commanded the 1st/8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters in the First World War. George Herbert Fowler, son of George Fowler of Basford Hall, was killed by a sniper whilst tending to a wounded comrade in the Hohenzollern redoubt in Flanders on 15 October 1915. His mother commissioned the window in the church.
The available parish registers date from just before 1914 and end in 1988. It was not until 1914 that the churchyard was consecrated for burials. Amongst the first burials were four children. The church was not licensed for weddings until 1965. Amongst the letters in the church’s chest is one written on 1 February 1966. It is a letter of consent to the license for the publishing of banns and solemnization of marriages. The Guardian Journal reported on St Luke’s first wedding in 1965. It was between local woman Margaret L. Alexander and Ernest Harradine, of Huntingdonshire in July of that year.
Although Stoke Bardolph, and its church, had a close relationship with Gedling and its parish for over 900 years it is now part of the parish of Burton Joyce with Bulcote and Stoke Bardolph. It was decided in 1993 that St Luke’s would become part the parish of Burton Joyce. The Gedling Parish Magazine of October 1993 wrote that this was partly because Gedling Parish Church served an urban area whereas Stoke Bardolph is rural. With its different ministry needs Stoke Bardolph joined what is now known as the parish of Burton Joyce with Bulcote and Stoke Bardolph.
In 1999 the restoration of the church floor was completed. Each wooden block had been lifted, cleaned and re-laid onto a new sub-floor.
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