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The Village
Stoke Golding lies in the heart of England, on the South Western edge of Leicestershire, close to the Warwickshire border. Within two miles is the market town of Hinckley and 16 miles away is the City of Leicester. As you will see from the sign at the top of the page, this village has a most unusual claim to fame, in that in 1485 the people of the village witnessed the rural coronation of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII. His defeat of the last of the Plantagenets, King Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth Field marked the end of the Wars of the Roses and heralded the accession to the throne of three Tudor Kings and two Queens, culminating in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. In the early part of the last century Stoke Golding was a small village, self-sufficient in every way, with small factories making a variety of wares, including socks, stockings and shoes. A number of small shops, now mostly gone, served the community, as did three public houses. Goods could be brought to and from the village either by the Ashby canal, or the railway which connected Stoke Golding to Nuneaton, Coalville and the North. Nowadays, the village shops have been reduced to one, although the three pubs and Stoke Golding Club remain. The railway has long since gone and the canal is now used purely for recreational purposes. The village has grown in size, with the building of housing estates around its perimeter and its residents commuting to work in the nearby towns. Much of the local industry has gone too, but a small trading estate flourishes, comprising of a number of small companies. Various censuses conducted over the years
show the increase in the village population:
The Name "Stoke Golding" The puzzle of the place name has not yet been satisfactorily solved. Stoke is a Saxon name, which means log or stockaded abode.
Golding does not appear until about 1570 and there are several possible suggestions for its origin.
Jill Webster – local historian. |
