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Chapter One

STRATTON ST. MARGARET


Apart from our family having its earliest mention in the Stratton St. Margaret parish records in 1634 there have also been many connections with the village in more recent times.   Indeed I myself lived there for many years in Swindon Road which saw the birth of my first two daughters, Teresa and Mandy.   My father’s sister Edith lived in one of two cottages situated at the end of Tilleys Lane after her marriage, to Frederick Woolford on the 23rd February 1919.   My grandfather lived in Penhill in 1907, when Penhill came within the parish boundary.   His brother Ernest lived with his wife in Swindon Road in a cottage close to the old Parochial School that was demolished in 1973.   The latest family wedding to take place at the parish church was that of Martin and Michelle Page, son and daughter-in-law of Valerie Lea.

Nestled in the north east of Wiltshire, Stratton St. Margaret claimed at one time to have been the largest parish in the country, both Penhill and Gorse Hill being a part of it until 1891.

There have of course been many changes since those far off days, the village having been enveloped by its ever expanding neighbour New Swindon.   Many of its old houses and cottages have disappeared taking away much of its visible character, so to see the village as it was in days gone by we have to look to the people who have taken photographs over the years.

There have been two books written by the Rev. Frederick Fuller that have a wealth of information and photographs taken at the turn of the century, obtainable from local book shops.

Most people do at some time during their lives wonder where their ancestors lived, what they were like, were they rich, poor or perhaps if there was anyone famous in their family.   Well for most people who expect to find other than just ordinary folk there is usually disappointment, particularly in rural Wiltshire where time must have seemed to have stood still for hundreds of years.   Village life must have been the prominent part of their entire lives, many people I am sure lived in a village without ever having left it.   This it would appear was the case in our family until John Lea left Stratton St. Margaret in 1805 to get married to Elizabeth Cuss in Holy Cross church, Ashton Keynes.

Many couples of the Lea family were united in matrimony at the Stratton St. Margaret church, approximately twenty one between the years of 1600-1777.   During this period no less than forty three children were born carrying the name Lea.


The present day Stratton St. Margaret Parish church, scene of so many marriages in our family. Photograph 1990


The parish church is on the perimeter of the lower Stratton part of the parish.   The present dates back to the thirteenth century, but there was a Norman church here previously. In the late 1840’s the church was much altered inside and out.   A drawing of the church in 1820 shows how the tower, chancel and windows looked before the respiration of 1846-1848.


The Village today - Ermin Street
Photographs 1990 & 1991



The old board school built in 1904
Photograph 1991



Missing Photograph of cottages

This row of thatched cottages once stood opposite the church.   The small stone building on the left was part of the yard buildings of church farm, and was standing until 1983.   The people shown are about to draw water from the well shown on the right.   This well still exists under the present roadway of Church Street.   Recently a lorry fell through the road surface into the well.


Missing Photograph of Thatched Barn, Swindon Road, Lower Stratton

This fine farm building existed at Parsonage Farm in Swindon Road.   Behind it stood the old stone tiled barn, a tythe barn used for storing grain.   On the opposite side of the road are the house and the old building of the former Star Brewery.


Missing Photograph of the Willow Tree

One of the centres of Stratton, where the road from the church joins Ermin Street, was the Willow Tree, a favourite gathering place for religious outdoor meetings, political rallies and Hunt meetings.   Until the early 9th century the village stocks had stood there.


THATCHED BUILDINGS

Until fairly recently there were many thatched cottages in the village.   There is not now a thatched cottage in that part of the parish known as Lower Stratton.   Some cottages have disappeared altogether, some have been replaced with roofs of other material.   Upper Stratton still has a couple of thatched cottages in Green Road.


Missing Photograph of the Baker's Shop, Upper Stratton

This thatched House, owned by the Wilkins' family, was the Bakers shop.   It was demolished before 1877, which is the date of the present house standing on the site.   The small building on the left of the photograph still exists, as a part of farm buildings, but it was originally a small independent meeting room called 'Providence Chapel'.

~~oo0oo~~

Addition material in the folder, not showing on this page due to copyright regulations:
Sketch of parish church dated circa 1820.
Photograph of parish church dated early 1900s.
Painting of Wilts & Berks Canal which ran through Stratton in the 18th & 19th centuries,
Photograph of Church Street.
Photograph of Thatched Barn, Swindon Road.
Photograph of a Cottage at Lower Stratton.
Photograph of The Willow Tree.
Photograph of The Baker's Shop.
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This page was last updated on 10th April 2007.