Stoke Dry

STOKE DRY is a parish and small village, on a height from which the view extends over Beaumont Chase and the vale of the river Eye, which separates the parish from Leicestershire, 3 miles north from Rockingham Castle station on the North Western section of the London, Midland and Scottish railway and 2 south-by-west from Uppingham, partly in the hundred of Wrangdike and partly in that of Gartree (Leicestershire), union of Uppingham, rural deanery of Rutland (third portion), archdeaconry of Oakham and diocese of Peterborough. The church of St. Andrew is a building of stone, originally Norman, but altered in the Early English period, and almost entirely rebuilt early in the 14th century; it consists of chancel, nave, aisles, a small chapel on the south side, north and south porches, and an embattled western tower, containing one bell: the north porch has over it a parvise chamber with mullioned window: in the church are numerous monuments, chiefly of the Digby family, including one with recumbent figures to Sir Kenelm Digby kt. M.P. ob. 1590, and Anne (Cope) his wife : there is also a fine incised alabaster slab to Jaqueta (Ellys), wife of Sir Edward Digby kt. M.P. ob. 1496, a monument to Richard and Anne Digby, and a large sculptured monument of freestone, with the recumbent effigy of a knight in armour, the inscription being now entirely obliterated : on the walls of the chantry chapel, south of the chancel, are remains of rude paintings : in 1898 the church was restored, the roofs generally repaired and other works carried out, at a cost of over £720 ; during the restoration some interesting paintings were discovered on the north and south walls of the nave: the church affords 70 sittings. The register dates from the year 1562. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £399, with residence, and including 31 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Marquess of Exeter C.M.G. and held since 1924 by the Rev. Charles Alfred Peacock C.B.E., M.A. St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. Here was born, in 1581, Sir Everard Digby kt. one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, who was beheaded 30 Jan. 1606. at the west end of St. Paul's churchyard : his son, Sir Kenelm Digby kt. of Gothurst or Gayhurst, Bucks, was a favourite and one of the most faithful adherents of Charles I.; he was also the author of several learned works, and a great benefactor to the Bodleian library, at Oxford, where there is a fine portrait of him by Vandyke: he died 11 June, 1665. The Marquess of Exeter C.M.G. is lord of the manor and sole landowner. The soil is rich loam ; subsoil, chiefly blue lias clay, part gravel. The parish comprises 992 acres, nearly all pasture, of which 85 are free of tithe; the population of the civil parish in 1921 was 54: and of the ecclesiastical 57, which includes the liberty of Holy Oaks in the county of Leicestershire.

Letters through Uppingham, nearest M.O. & T. office

PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
Blood John William, Manor house
Peacock Rev. Charles Alfred C.B.E., M.A. [rector], Rectory
Taylor George, The Grange

COMMERCIAL.
Marked thus ° farm 150 acres or over.
°Blood John William, farmer, The Manor house
Fox Chas. gardener to the Rev. Chas. A. Peacock C.B.E. Rectory cott
Hinch Frederick, grazier
Hinch Lucy (Miss), tobccnst
Norris Thomas, grazier
°Taylor George, farmer & grazier, The Grange