Stowey

infobox UK place

country = England
latitude= 51.3346

longitude= -2.5794

official_name= Stowey
population= approx. 100
unitary_england= Bath and North East Somerset
lieutenancy_england=Somerset
region= South West England

constituency_westminster= Wansdyke to be North East Somerset from next general election.
post_town= BRISTOL
postcode_district = BS39
postcode_area= BS
dial_code= 01275
os_grid_reference= ST597598

Stowey (gbmapping|ST597598) is a small village within the Chew Valley in Somerset. It lies south of Chew Valley Lake and north of the Mendip Hills, approximately 10 miles south of Bristol on the A368 road Weston-super-Mare to Bath. With its neighbouring and larger village Bishop Sutton they form the civil parish of Stowey Sutton.

There is some evidence of a possible wooden enclosure from the Iron Age known as Stowey Castle. [cite web | title=Stowey Castle, Stowey Sutton | work=Gatehouse gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of England and Wales | url=http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/18.html | accessdate=2006-04-25] There is also some evidence of an ochre crushing mill used for making pigment for marking sheep.cite book | author = Mason, Edmund J. & Mason, Doreen | year 1982 | title = Avon Villages | publisher = Robert Hale Ltd | id=ISBN 0-7091-9585-0] Several buildings including the church, Sutton Court and Stowey House, which are listed buildings, date back to the 15th and 16th Centuries, reflecting the history of the area.

There are several sites of Nature Conservation Interest and Special Scientific Interest in and around the village.

Government and politics

Stowey, along with Bishop Sutton make up the Stowey Sutton Parish council which has some responsibility for local issues, and is part of the Chew Valley South Ward which is represented by one councillor on the Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority which has wider responsibilities for services such as education, refuse, tourism etc. The village is a part of the Wansdyke constituency, which will become North East Somerset at the next general election and part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.

Demographics

According to the 2001 Census The Chew Valley South Ward (which includes Bishop Sutton and Stowey), had 1,222 residents, living in 476 households, with an average age of 40.3 years. Of these 76% of residents describing their health as 'good', 25% of 16-74 year olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 1.9% of all economically active people aged 16-74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it was ranked at 28,854 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived. [cite web | title=Neighbourhood Statistics LSOA Bath and North East Somerset 021C Chew Valley South | work=Office of National Statistics 2001 Census | url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadProfileSearch.do?profileSearchText=BS39+5UT&searchProfiles= | accessdate=2006-04-25]

Folly Farm

Near to the village is Folly Farm, a 17th century farm with traditionally managed, unimproved, neutral grassland, flowery meadows and woodlands with splendid views run by Avon Wildlife Trust. Folly Farm includes two SSSI — the meadows (19.36 hectares) and Dowlings Wood (9 hectares).

Church

The Church of England parish church of St Nicholas and St Mary, which dates back to the 16th or 17th century includes wall paintings by Henry Strachey from 1915.cite book | author = Pevsner, Nikolaus | year = 2000 | title = The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol | publisher = Penguin Books | id=ISBN 0-14-071013-2] It is a Grade II listed building. [cite web | title=Church of St. Nicholas and Mary | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=32829 | accessdate=2006-05-09]

"Stowey" is also the name of a hymn tune which was adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams for "When a Knight Won His Spurs."

Sutton Court

Sutton Court, also known as Stowey Court, is a large house built on the site of a 14th century castle, with sections built in the 15th and 16th century. About 1558 (former date on a fireplace) Bess of Hardwick and her second husband Sir William St Loe added a north east wing with a parlour and chapel, which includes Tudor buttresses. The house was then left to her son Charles Cavendish, but later the property passed to the Strachey family. From about 1650-1700 it was the seat of Richard Jones and his son Sir William Jones, the Attorney General of England. [cite book | author=Cruickshanks | year = 1986 | title = The House of Commons 1690 1715 5 Volume Set p527 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | id =ISBN 0-521-77221-4 ] Around 1800 it was the seat of the Strachey family including Richard Strachey and his brother John Strachey. Much of the house was remodelled in 1858 by Thomas Henry Wyatt. Life at Sutton Court has been described by John St. Loe Strachey in his autobiographical book 'The Adventure of Living' in 1922. [cite book | author = St. Loe Strachey, John | year = 1922 | title = The Adventure of Living A Subjective Autobiography (1860-1922) | ebook | url=http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6567 | accessdate=2006-05-21 | id=ISBN 1-4043-5656-8] It is a Grade II* listed building. [cite web | title=Sutton Court | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=32831 | accessdate=2006-05-09] A curtain Wall to north of Sutton Court with a gazebo is also listed. [cite web | title=Curtain Wall to north of Sutton Court with gazebo | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=32832 | accessdate=2006-05-09] The Lodge is also Grade II listed. [cite web | title=Sutton Court Lodge | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=32833 | accessdate=2006-05-09]

Stowey House

Another significant building in the village is Stowey House to the north-west of the church, which includes original seventeenth century gables, but was considerably extended in Georgian times. It is a Grade II listed building. [cite web | title=Stowey House | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=32830 | accessdate=2006-05-09]

Other Grade II listed buildings

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References

Bibliography

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External links

* [http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/environment/planningservices/Landscape/rltarea2.htm BANES Environmental Services Area 2 — Chew Valley]
* [http://www.chewvalley.co.uk/ Chew Valley web site]
* [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/sssi/sssi_details.cfm?sssi_id=1003609 SSSI certificates]