{{Short description|Village in Wiltshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Use British English|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |official_name= Stratford Tony |static_image_name= River Ebble at Stratford Tony - geograph.org.uk - 309646.jpg |static_image_caption= River Ebble at Stratford Tony |coordinates = {{coord|51.037|-1.869|type:city(100)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}} |label_position= left |population= 55 |population_ref= (in 2011)<ref name="census">{{cite web|title=Wiltshire Community History – Census|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=216|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=4 October 2022}} Note ONS raw data (as opposed to this County Council figure) is for an area 'too small to publish all data for reasons of confidentiality of living people' its parish data being combined with part of Bishopstone, Salisbury into output area E00163145 so more demographic statistics will become available in a few decades from 2011</ref> |region= South West England |civil_parish = Stratford Toney |unitary_england = Wiltshire |lieutenancy_england = Wiltshire |dial_code= 01722 |postcode_district = SP5 |postcode_area= SP |post_town= Salisbury |constituency_westminster= Salisbury |os_grid_reference= SU093264 }} '''Stratford Tony''', also spelt '''Stratford Toney''', formerly known as '''Stratford St Anthony''' and '''Toney Stratford''', is a village and civil parish in southern Wiltshire, England. It lies on the River Ebble and is about {{convert|4|mi}} southwest of Salisbury.<ref name=genuki>[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/StratfordTony/ Stratford Tony] at genuki.org.uk</ref> In 2011 the parish had a population of 55.
== Geography == The parish is narrow in the east–west direction. To the south it extends onto high chalk downland, which is crossed by the A354 Salisbury-Weymouth road. In the north the parish boundary is the Shaftesbury Drove; now a byway, this was formerly used to drive cattle and other livestock from Shaftesbury to markets at Salisbury and beyond. Salisbury Racecourse is just over the boundary, and some of its facilities are in the parish.
Stratford Toney Down, south of the village, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its botanically rich chalk grassland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Citation for Stratford Toney Down SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1002087.pdf |access-date=3 March 2023 |website=Natural England}}</ref>
== History == After the Norman Conquest, the Chalke Valley was divided into eight manors which were granted to new Norman lords.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meers |first=Peter D. |date=July 2006 |title=Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages |url=http://www.southwilts.com/site/Ebbesbourne-Wake-Through-The-Ages/EWTTA3.pdf |access-date=4 March 2023 |website=southwilts.com |page=5}}</ref> The Domesday survey in 1086 recorded an estate at Stradford with 28 households and two mills, held by Earl Aubrey of Coucy.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|SU0926|stratford-tony|Stratford [Tony]}}</ref>
''The National Gazetteer'' (1868) said of the parish:<ref>{{cite web|title=Stratford Tony|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/StratfordTony|website=GENUKI|access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> {{blockquote|STRATFORD TONY (or Stratford St. Anthony), a parish in the hundred of Cowden, county Wilts, 4 miles S. W. of Salisbury, its post town. The village is situated on a branch of the river Avon, and about a mile W. of the road from Salisbury to Dorchester, near the line of the ancient Icknield Street. It formerly belonged to the Wests. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Sarum, value £393, in the patronage of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The church is old, and dedicated to St. Mary. There is a parochial school. John Bampton, founder of the Bampton Lectures, was once rector of this parish.}}
The area of the parish was reduced in 1885 when land was transferred to Britford, Coombe Bissett, and Homington parishes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stratford Tony CP/AP |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10412493 |access-date=4 March 2023 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=University of Portsmouth}}</ref>
Stratford Tony House, west of the church, has a 17th-century core behind a five-bay front of c.1730.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1284788|desc=Stratford Tony House|access-date=4 March 2023|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Nearby is a timber-framed barn from the late 18th century.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1355708|desc=Barn at Stratford Tony House|access-date=4 March 2023|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Towards the north end of the village, the manor house carries a date of 1833; it was built for George Purefoy-Jervoise (1770–1847), landowner and member of parliament.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1181889|desc=Manor House|access-date=4 March 2023|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
The population of the parish peaked at around 165 in the 1860s and has declined since then.<ref name="census" />
== Parish church == {{Main|St Mary & St Lawrence's Church, Stratford Tony}}
The Church of England parish church of St Mary and St Lawrence is designated a Grade I listed building and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1181901 |desc=Church of St Mary and St Lawrence |access-date=19 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=St Mary & St Lawrence, Stratford Tony |url=http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/Church-of-St-Mary-St-Lawrence-Stratford-Tony-Wiltshire/|publisher=Churches Conservation Trust|access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> There is a canonical sundial on the south wall. Its parish registers survive in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre for christenings, 1605–1985, marriages, 1562–1983, and burials, 1562–1988.<ref name=genuki/>
== Local government == The civil parish does not elect a parish council. Instead the first tier of local government is a parish meeting, which all electors are entitled to attend.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stratford Tony Parish Meeting|url=http://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/%28S%28wm5gga55b130f045qoanjja5%29%29/mgParishCouncilDetails.aspx?ID=480&LS=1|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> The parish is in the area of Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority which is responsible for most significant local government functions.
== Notable residents == John Bampton (1690–1751) was rector from 1718 until his death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bampton, John (1712–1751) |url=https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?PersonID=6887 |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=Clergy of the Church of England Database |publisher=King’s College London}}</ref> He left money to establish the Bampton Lectures at Oxford University, which continue to be given every second year.<ref>{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Bampton, John_(d.1751)|first=Thompson|last=Cooper|volume=3}}</ref>
The Impressionist painter Wilfrid de Glehn (1870–1951) and his wife Jane Emmet (1873–1961, also a painter) lived at Stratford Tony manor house from 1942.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5161164|title=Wilfrid Gabriel De Glehn, R.A. (1870-1951), Boats in a harbour, St Tropez|last=|first=|date=|website=Christie's|language=en|access-date=2020-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Retirement to Stratford Tony |url=http://www.deglehn.com/retirement_1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028003505/http://deglehn.com/retirement_1.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=28 October 2010 |access-date=31 January 2016 |website=Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn - His Life and Works |publisher=David Messum Fine Art Limited}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Villages in Wiltshire Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire