STOWEY

'Stowey' () 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.^[1] There is also some evidence of an ochre crushing mill used for making pigment for marking sheep.^[2] 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.

Contents

Government and politics

Demographics

Folly Farm

Church

Sutton Court

Stowey House

Other Grade II listed buildings

References

Bibliography

External links

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.^[3]

Folly Farm

Main articles: 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.^[4] It is a Grade II listed building.^[5]

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.⁴ The house was then left to her son Charles Cavendish, but later the property passed to the Strachey family.² From about 1650-1700 it was the seat of Richard Jones and his son Sir William Jones, the Attorney General of England. 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.⁴ Life at Sutton Court has been described by John St. Loe Strachey in his autobiographical book 'The Adventure of Living' in 1922.^[6] It is a Grade II
★ listed building.^[7] A curtain Wall to north of Sutton Court with a gazebo is also listed.^[8] The Lodge is also Grade II listed.^[9]

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.² It is a Grade II listed building.^[10]

Other Grade II listed buildings

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References

1. Stowey Castle, Stowey Sutton
2. Avon Villages, Mason, Edmund J. & Mason, Doreen, , , Robert Hale Ltd, , ISBN 0-7091-9585-0
3. Neighbourhood Statistics LSOA Bath and North East Somerset 021C Chew Valley South
4. The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol, Pevsner, Nikolaus, , , Penguin Books, 2000, ISBN 0-14-071013-2
5. Church of St. Nicholas and Mary
6. The Adventure of Living A Subjective Autobiography (1860-1922), St. Loe Strachey, John, , , , 1922, ISBN 1-4043-5656-8
7. Sutton Court
8. Curtain Wall to north of Sutton Court with gazebo
9. Sutton Court Lodge
10. Stowey House

Bibliography

★ Chew Magna and the Chew Valley in old photographs, Durham, I. & M., , , Redcliffe Press, 1991, ISBN 1-872971-61-X

★ The Natural History of the Chew Valley, Janes, Rowland (ed), , , , 1987, ISBN 0-9545125-2-9

★ Before the Lake: Memories of the Chew Valley, Ross, Lesley (Ed.), , , The Harptree Historic Society, 2004, ISBN 0-9548832-0-9

External links

★ BANES Environmental Services Area 2 — Chew Valley

★ Chew Valley web site

★ SSSI certificates