Oliver Cromwell’s so called ‘Parliamentary Visitors’ operated in the area. Colonel William Dowsing was appointed to demolish church ornaments etc. and his diary entry for Stoke reads ‘We brake down 100 superstitious pictures and gave orders for the levelling of the steps to the chancel and took up seven superstitious inscriptions on the tombstones’. The stained glass in the Church went at this time too. One of the most important local documents of this time is a beautifully drawn Estate Map and detailed survey of Tendring Hall Park. This is in colour and shows every oak, elm and ash tree as well as all the ponds, gates, stiles and barns and stables.
The survey also mentions the Angel Inn at Stoke with Brewhouse and The Greyhound (now known as The Crown). At the beginning of the 19th Century the Enclosure Act provided that open fields, commons and waste lands should be enclosed and allocated to various landowners. A map, drawn up for Stoke is at the Suffolk record Office.
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The Rev. C. M. Torlesse and his wife established one of the first ever Friendly Societies. He was Vicar of Stoke between 1832 – 1881. His daughter, Frances, tells of the 1820s in the Parish as being hard times with average wages being the equivalent of 25-35 p per week. Child labour was freely employed with a boy of 8 able to earn 6p a week bird scaring.
The New Zealand connection started in 1841 when the first three ships left Gravesend with emigrants to form the colony of Nelson. They included Mr Torlesse’s son Charles and a number of skilled Stoke inhabitants.
Not long after this the railway came as far as Colchester. The horse drawn mail coach continued to regularly collect and deliver mail to the Post Office in the village.
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The CoE Primary School was built in 1848. In 1911 the Stoke Village Cricket Club was formed. The same cricket pitch is in use today.
The Village Institute (the current Village Hall) was built also in 1911 on estate land. In 1910 there were 235 households in Stoke. In the Spring of 1931 there were discussions about including Polstead Street in Stoke but this was not accepted by the Rural District Council although the boundary change did come about in 1956.
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Plans for electricity to be brought to the village were made in 1934.
Piped water was also on the agenda though many residents continued to use their wells for many years after the installation. Wells were free, mains water had to be paid for! The bus service was then described as ‘good’ and livestock such as chickens and rabbits could be taken on board. Interestingly John Wallace, a previous Village Recorder stated in his excellent booklet ‘Stoke by Nayland the last 1000 years ‘the bus service is still good for a country service and well patronised although you don’t see many live chickens or rabbits on board these days. Sadly, the bus service now cannot be described as good!
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Today the Village Hall is extremely well used and provides a focal point in the Village with monthly coffee mornings and lunches being very popular. Two pubs/ restaurants remain, the village shop and post office is an excellent facility being very much appreciated and well used. Eaves garage provides petrol, offers car servicing as well as selling second hand cars. A local second hand bookshop is a welcome relatively new addition. Stoke by Nayland is still a thriving community with around 700 people living here. It also has 125 listed buildings with 2 being Grade 1 and 5 Grade 2*.
Acknowledgements:
Much of the above text has been taken from ‘Stoke by Nayland. The last thousand years’. This being written by John Wallace, a much-missed resident of Stoke by Nayland, and former Village Recorder with additional material from Carole Boggis, a former committee member of our Local History Society. The booklet was published in memory of his wife, June Wallace, who spent many hours organising local Field Walking Teams and in research at the Suffolk record Offices which provided a lot of material for the booklet. The booklet was edited by Richard Channon, Chair of Stoke by Nayland’s Local History Society.