Churches and Halls

                           The Church of St. Margaret of Antioch

See 'The Blue Plaque Walk' for information about St. Margaret's Church

                                          The Methodist Church

                                           Architect's drawing

The original chapel, at the rear of the present one was opened in 1905 after a move from Station Road. The new chapel in from of the old was built and opened in 1933, when the older part became the church hall.

                                                    St. Martin's Convent

St Martin's Convent Chapel is owned by the Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena based in King William's Town, South Africa. Their order was founded in 1877 by a group of women from Augsburg in Germany. The chapel is dedicated to The Holy Spirit and St Martin, a Dominican saint of Porres in Lima, Peru. He had knowledge of medicine and was made a saint through his great devotion to The Lord and charitable acts to the sick and the poor. The Sisters bought the land and Stoke Lodge in 1948 and their Chapel began in a small room at the Lodge. Members of the public were allowed to attend their daily mass. In 1962/3 the convent was greatly enlarged to include the new triangular shaped copper roofed Chapel. This opened on 1st January 1964. The Sisters chant daily prayers and local people attend Tuesday or Sunday Mass.

                                                 The Zion Baptist Chapel

A general chapel existed in Stoke in 1840. In 1852 Mary Brotherhood was left a legacy of £300. She bought a plot of land and built this chapel, which opened in 1853. A baptistery, pulpit and schoolroom were added in 1874/5 and much remains as originally constructed. A new public front porch was added in more recent years.

                                                     The Baxter Hall

In 1850 local benefactors built a Workmen's Hall and Reading Room on the site of the 'Old Hall'. From 1866 it was used as a village school. It reverted back to a meeting room when the school had more classrooms added.

                            The Village Hall on the Recreation Ground

                                                                                                       New Entrance - March 2007

The village hall stands on the recreation ground at the end of Hall Drive. It was built by public subscription in1961and provides accommodation for the village Scout Group, Parish Council meetings and many other group activities.

Women's Hall on Station Road 

This hall stands next to Hall's old factory on Station Road. It was the first Methodist Church in the village and opened in 1857. In 1905 a new church was built on Main Street. The hall was lit with oil lamps, as electricity did not come to Stoke until 1920. It got its name from the ladies who used to meet there to knit for WW1 troops. Latterly it was used for storing produce for the Garden and Allotments Society. It is now privately owned.