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Derbyshire Towns & Parishes

STOKE, Derbyshire

"STOKE, a township in the parish of Hope, hundred of High Peake, county Derby, 5 miles N.E. of Bakewell, and 1½ mile N.E. of Stoney-Middleton, on the river Derwent."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

Biography Census Chronology Description and Travel Directories Folklore

Early 20thC Map Click to view larger area.

Historical Geography History Manors Occupations Population Voting Registers

Biography

• An account of the life of Herbert Beresford, resident at Goatscliffe, from about 1898 to 1902.

Census

• Transcription of the Census for Stoke of 1841, 1861, 1871 and 1881 by Rosemary Lockie from individual photocopies.

• Transcription of the Census for Stoke of 1851 is included with Eyam Woodlands (Schedules 58 to 69).

• Transcription of the Census for Stoke of 1891 with Summary, by Rosemary Lockie,
  from microfiche as part of the FreeCEN project.
  (NB: this is Schedules 1-10 of an Enumeration District which included Nether Padley and Eyam Woodlands)

• Transcription of the Census for Stoke of 1901 with Summary, by Rosemary Lockie from individual photocopies.

Chronology

• Here are some collected references to Stoke in Early Records.

Description and Travel

• Various photographs are available in our Stoke Photo Gallery, showing several aspects of Stoke as it is now, including aerial view, guidestone, bee gaths, &c. Several new photos were added 29 May 2005.

Directories

• Transcription of section of a History & Gazetteer of Derbyshire for Stoke in 1846 by Rosemary Lockie.

• Transcription of section of White's History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Derby, 1857, for Stoke by Rosemary Lockie.

• Transcription of section of Directory of Sheffield and 20 miles round, 1862, for Stoke by Rosemary Lockie.

• Stoke Hall Stone Quarries - entry from Bulmer's History and Directory of Derbyshire, 1895.

• Transcription of section of Kelly's Directory of the County of Derby, 1912, for Stoke by Rosemary Lockie.

Folklore

• the Photograph of Statue of Fair Flora, Stoke.

  This Statue strikes me as somewhat incongruous stuck in the middle of a wood - as it is - and I grew up in a house some 500 yards away! She represents Flora, the Greek Goddess of Flowers, and stands in the Wood named in her honour - "Flora Wood" - just outside the modern village of Grindleford, beside a trackway branching off the B6521 road going towards Eyam. The story I was told by my mum as a child was that she was originally sited at Chatsworth House, but she was given to the owners of the Hall at Stoke as a gift. Indeed, Chatsworth House has a number of this type of Italian-style statue in its grounds. However, the lady of the house at Stoke Hall became convinced the statue had brought bad luck, and she also became frightened by it at night, so it was transferred at her insistence to its present site.

  Many strange tales have become associated with the statue over the years. On the one hand, the statue is supposed to represent a young lady who was murdered by a jealous lover; on the other, the statue is a memorial to a girl who drowned in the River Derwent when eloping with her lover across stepping stones above the Leadmill Bridge at Hathersage.

  A further tale involves a real 'Fair Flora' living in a tiny cottage near Eyam, the so called "Astrologer's Daughter" immortalised in a long ballad by J. Castle Hall. Victor, the son of a local squire, was betrothed to Flora but then was called away to war, to fight for his country. Many months elapsed, and when he failed to return, Flora, in her sorrow, is said to have pined away and died.

  Or... as told by John Merrill in his book 'Derbyshire Folklore' (JNM Publications, Winster, 1988, ISBN 0 907496 331 8) - a combination of all of them. He tells of Flora as a servant at Stoke Hall living about 120 years ago. She was murdered whilst her betrothed - a soldier - was fighting abroad, and Stoke Hall's owners being deeply shocked had a statue erected in her memory. However, one night the lady of the house thought she saw the statue move, and at her insistence the statue was moved to the present site for safety.

  No doubt each of these stories, as with all good Family History Legends, do have an element of truth to them - similar events really did happen to local people. In keeping with the myth of the modern age, the most recent theory is that Fair Flora was a fertility symbol, and there are rumours the young girls of the village deck the statue with garlands of flowers, and go dancing around it at dawn on May Day...

  In all seriousness, I think I recall my mother telling me they used to hang garlands of flowers around her neck when they were kids, but I suspect this was more a "dressing-up" game than a hark back to the times of "The Green Man"!

  In the 1950's the Statue was vandalised - some ramblers knocked the head off; however it was kept safely by a nearby resident, and in the 1980's the Parish Council arranged for it to be restored to its former glory (as you will see from the accompanying photograph).

Historical Geography

• Stoke was formerly a Township of Hope parish. It was transferred to Eyam in 1911; then in 1987 it became part of the "modern" parish of Grindleford.

• The Old Postcard Collection, Stoke, shows aspects of Stoke as it was.

History

• Transcription of section of Lysons' Topographical and Historical Account of Derbyshire, 1817, for Stoke by Barbarann Ayars.

Manors

• An account of Stoke Hall, taken from Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire, Volume I 1892 (The High Peak) by Joseph Tilley, transcribed/OCR'd by Rosemary Lockie.

• Old Postcard of The Hall (c.1937), Stoke, from Rosemary Lockie.

• Photograph of The Hall (from Froggatt), Stoke, from Janet Kirk.

Occupations

• Stoke Quarry has for many years provided quality stone for a variety of purposes, and employment for many local stonemasons and labourers. Today, mechanisation has replaced many of the traditional skills, such as stone cutting, and gathering, and whilst one might regret the loss of such skills, in the past workers were subject to respiratory diseases such as silicosis, and accidents caused by unguarded equipment and rock falls. Mechanisation and more safety precautions make such hazards less of an issue for today's workers...

  The following are some items of interest relating to the Quarry - kindly contributed by John Mather.

• "Stoke" Pulp Stones - an article published originally in the The Paper-Maker and British Paper Trade Journal, 1915-16.

Population

• Census Statistics - the population figures for the village of Stoke are as follows:-

  1801	1811	1821	1831	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891
  68	66	74	60	46	62	68	42	22	46
  1901	1911	1921	1931	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991
  57	60	56	69	63	54	45	52	-

  For 1991 see Grindleford - split between several parishes but Grindleford is main one.

  The above census statistics have been contributed by Joseph Platt.

Voting Registers

• Here is a list of Stoke Voters.

  Voters, 1841-42

  NB: There is only one voter on this list, Robert Tomlin, of "Nouchley". The only other list available to me for transcribing was 1845-46 - for which the return was "None"!

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