Stoke-Near-Nayland (St. Mary)

STOKE-NEAR-NAYLAND (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Sudbury, hundred of Babergh, W. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (N. E. by N.) from Nayland; containing 1362 inhabitants. A monastery existed here in the middle of the 10th century, to which Earl Alfgar, and his daughters Æthelfled and Ægelfled, made considerable donations, it being the burial-place of that noble family. In the parish are, Gifford Hall, an ancient structure with a fine entrance gateway, built in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII.; and Tendring Hall, the seat of Sir J. R. Rowley, Bart., formerly the residence of the dukes of Norfolk, where the Earl of Surrey wrote his poems. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19. 0. 10., and in the gift of Sir J. R. Rowley: the great tithes, belonging to P. Mannock, Esq., have been commuted for £1254, and the vicarial tithes for £305. The church is a spacious structure in the later English style, with a finely-proportioned tower, and contains numerous monuments and some ancient brasses. A chapel for the inhabitants of Leavenheath has lately been erected by subscription: the living is endowed with three acres of land, and £1100 in the funds. There is a Roman Catholic chapel. Sir John Capel, lord mayor of London in 1503, was a native of Stoke. The Rev. William Jones, the wellknown author, was vicar.