Stoke, Kent

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.45
longitude= 0.65
official_name= Stoke
civil_parish = Stoke
population = 1063
unitary_england= Medway
lieutenancy_england = Kent
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Medway to be replaced 2007 by Rochester and Strood
post_town= ROCHESTER
postcode_district = ME3
postcode_area= ME
dial_code= 01634
os_grid_reference= TQ831760

Stoke is a civil parish on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, England, to the south of Allhallows, on the north of the Medway Estuary. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,063.

The two small villages of Lower Stoke and Stoke (sometimes referred to as Upper Stoke) stand on low lying fertile farmland that is at most 17m above highwater.The farmland descends to the Stoke Saltings – a maze of intricate channels and small islands beloved by wading birds. The church of Saints Peter and Paul is in Stoke; it was an appendage to the Manor of Great Hoo. The building contains some Norman and Early English work dating from 1175. It has no spire.Brian Matthews, the History of Strood Rural District, 1971, Strood Rural District Council]

In Saxon Days the manor was called Andescohesham, the Domesday Book called it Estoches and Soches. It was passed with other lands by Eadberht, son of King Wihtred of Kent to the See of Rochester for "the good of his soul and the remission of sins".

Due to its low lying nature, Stoke has often suffered flooding, such as in 1158, 1235, 1309, 1682, and 1735 when ploughmen were swept from their fields as the sea broke through. Also, in 1791, 1854, 1874, and 1897, Stoke was cut off from the Isle of Grain for a week.

In 1720 Manor Farm was leased to Jacob Sawbridge, one of the South Sea Bubble directors.

In 1732 William Hogarth overnighted at the 'Nag's Head' in Lower Stoke. Due to the shortage of beds he had to share a bed.

There was a large airship base nearby at Kingsnorth whence patrols went out covering the North Sea during World War I. It now lies beneath Kingsnorth Power Station.

The Rose and Crown pub in Stoke Road is a Grade II building. It started life as a Georgian house in the late 18th century but has 20th century additions and alterations.

In the late 20th century the Ramsgate Flat Earth Society held council at Stoke and formed the North Kent Parochial Anarchists. This was announced on the parish and village notice board, opposite what now represents the village centre, and by public proclamation on the village green in 1984.Fact|Kent|date=May 2007

References