Local Hamlets Part Four - Stockbridge

Stockbridge Farm

Stockbridge

There are many hamlets in the north Doncaster area, mostly made up of farming communities. They usually consist of a few farms and maybe a few houses, but usually there are no public amenities and are often without a bus service. 

Arksey has four satellite hamlets, Shaftholme, Tilts, Almholme and Stockbridge. All these places came under the enumeration district of Bentley-with-Arksey, along with some others which satellite Bentley.

This final part in a series of four articles focuses on Stockbridge. The first part being about Shaftholme, the second about Tilts, and the third about Almholme.

Contents

• Locating Stockbridge
• Early History
• Early Inhabitants
• Richard Helm
• The Hall Family
• Plague
• Nineteenth Century Stockbridge
• Arksey Fishing Pond
• Stockbridge Farm
• Later Occupants of Stockbridge Farm
• 'Farmer Jackson' - Boxer
• Hamlet Hopping

Locating Stockbridge

Aerial view of Stockbridge

Stockbridge (not Stocksbridge) lies off Arksey Lane just before reaching the level crossing. Consisting of just one road, Stockbridge Lane, it runs in a northerly direction, parallel with the railway line for about a quarter of a mile, before splitting off to a footpath and a dead-end access road.

There are two farmhouses on Stockbridge Lane, Stockbridge House Farm, which lies at the top of the lane (unmarked on the map, left), and the empty Stockbridge Farm, halfway along the lane. A third farm, called Bridge Farm, which used to stand near the entrance to Stockbridge Lane has been absorbed into the permanent Travellers' site there.

Modern map of Stockbridge

Early History

The name Stockbridge is a habitational name derived from the Old English stocc 'tree trunk', 'log', and brycg 'bridge' i.e. 'bridge made of tree trunks or logs'.

It first appears in the Pipe Rolls (financial records) of 1166 as Stochebrige, and as is the case with many other place-names, there have been a number of variations in how it is spelled over the centuries, as this list shows:

• 1166 - Stochebrige
• 1246 - Stocbrig(g)
• 1342, 1490 - Stokbrig(g) or Stokbryg(g)
• 1590 - Stockbrig(e) or Stockbrigg
• 1602, 1822 - Stockbridge   

For more on the Pipe Rolls go to Pipe Rolls - Wikipedia.

Early Inhabitants

The earliest written evidence of people in Stockbridge comes in a land transference document of 1342, which mentions a 'William, son of Thomas Gamell of Stokbrigg'. The name 'Gamell' is still in the area by the time of the Poll Tax returns in 1379; unfortunately, not many place names are listed alongside the names, so there is no way of determining where these 'Gamells' lived, or for that matter, who else on the list lived in Stockbridge. 

Early entries from the Arksey parish registers give us a few more clues to who lived in Stockbridge. The place name was included in entries from about 1570, and those found to be resident in the latter thirty years of that century were families by the following names:

• Hall
• Helm
• Stringer 
• Huscrofte
• Broughton
• Sheaperde (Shepherd)

Of the above names, Hall is the most notable, and we shall return to them later. However, looking at the entries for 'Helm' turned out to be quite interesting. 

Richard Helm

The first mention of Richard Helm comes in a burial entry for his first wife Margaret, she died in March 1570. Just two days later their son Richard was also buried, so one must suppose that Margaret died in childbirth with her new son following on soon after.

Richard did not remain a widower for long because in December that same year his second wife Alice, was buried. There was no marriage entry in the parish registers, so they must have been married elsewhere. 

In April 1571 Richard married for a third time, this was to Joan Mapplebecke. They had a son, John, who was baptised a year later. Richard's wife Joan died in August 1574.

Richard was to marry for a fourth time, this time to Agnes Barker in October 1574. However, this marriage wasn't to last long either, with Richard himself passing away a year later in October 1575. 

Richard's son John, from his third marriage died two months after his father, in December 1575.

We know nothing more about this much-married resident of Stockbridge, but to put this much together from parish registers alone is quite fascinating.

The Hall Family

Richard Hall of Stockbridge has a number of early entries in the parish registers. His five children were baptised between 1562 and 1573. 

The Hall's took leases of land from Francis le Straunge between 1574 and 1577, making them quite a prosperous family by the Hearth Tax returns of 1672.

Records for the Hearth Tax of 1672 show that 'Mr Samuall Hall had seven hearths'. They lived at Stockbridge Farm, Samuel (Samuall) being the eldest of three siblings living there, all children of John Hall. His younger brother John and sister Mary being the others.

Samuel Hall set up a charity Hall's Woollen Cloth Charity in the 1670's. Their charity applied to the purchasing of 'kersey', a kind of woollen cloth. Four yards of this kersey was to be given to the 'ten poorest and aged persons of the parish on the first day of December annually'. This excluded persons in the 'Hospital' (Almshouses), and any residue of money left over was given in bread to the same poor people. The charity was still active as late as 1842, when eighteen people were receiving the cloth.

Samuel was the only one of the three to marry, his wife was Susanna and she gave birth to a son, John on the 11th of May 1673; tragically, Susanna died and was buried the same day. Things obviously didn't look good for baby John either, as he was also baptised on that day. He actually lived a few months, but was buried on the 28th of September that same year. Samuel himself died four years later and was buried on 23rd of March 1677 at the age of twenty five.

Samuel's younger brother John also died young and was unmarried too; he died on the 31st of January 1681* and  was buried on the 2nd February, he was aged twenty seven, and as it states on his memorial, he was the last male heir of his line.

Their maiden sister Mary lived up to the age of sixty five, she died on the 13th of August 1721 and was buried on the 15th of August.


A memorial for John and Mary Hall lies in the nave of Arksey church (see below).

Memorial to John and Mary Hall in Arksey Church

* John Hall's memorial gives the year of his death as 1680, this is due to the use of the old calendar at the time, which treated the year as starting on Lady Day, 25th of March.

Plague

It is interesting to note from the parish registers that Stockbridge did not go untouched by the plague of 1582/3. When a traveller from Thirsk in North Yorkshire brought plague to Doncaster in August 1582 it resulted in an appalling amount of deaths in the town. While the disease mainly affected Doncaster and some surrounding villages, it never reached Arksey. There were many deaths amongst the population of Bentley, but the nearest cases to Arksey were just two in Stockbridge.

Plague 'victims'

On April the twenty eighth 1583 Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Stringer was buried due to 'pestilence', then just ten days later on the eighth of May 'another boy' (sic) of Thomas Stringer was also buried after suffering the same fate. They were just two out of fifty one plague burials to take place at Arksey church between January and July 1583.  

For more on the plague and other diseases go to How We Died.

Nineteenth Century Stockbridge

Stockbridge and Arksey 1854

The map above shows the newly built Great Northern Railway line between Knottingley and Arksey which would eventually become part of the main East Coast Railway. When this map was drawn the railway had only been there seven years; before it was built Stockbridge was only separated from Arksey by open fields, the railway effectively cut the hamlet off from Arksey, which could only now be reached by crossing the new level crossing on Arksey Lane, or using one of the other foot crossings further along the line. 

Stockbridge and Arksey before the railway, 1772

When it was first built, the railway station was called Stockbridge Station, as appears on the map above, although it was altered to Arksey Station not long after this map was produced. The first foot crossing north of the station was one that started slightly north of and opposite Stockbridge Farm by a lane crossing the fields, it then passed under the railway line, crossed another field and came out on Station Road by the side of where Arksey Old Cemetery would be laid out in 1884. This footpath still exists today, passing under the railway line via an overhead bridge. The bridge has been locally named 'Thunder Bridge' for many years due to the sound the trains make as they pass overhead.

Footpath under 'Thunder Bridge' 1854

Another foot crossing nearer to Arksey could be reached by following Stockbridge Lane in its entirety to a point just north west of Arksey where a foot crossing was created. This lane, known locally as the 'Cinder Track' connects with lanes going west to Bentley, and north to the Marsh Lane crossing, now a foot crossing.

'Cinder Track'

Arksey Fishing Pond

Swans on Arksey fishing pond, 1981

Most fishing ponds in the area were created when clay was extracted for brick making. Once the brick works had abandoned the sites, the pits would fill with water and some were used for recreational angling. Willowgarth pond just north of Arksey is one such clay pit pond. The origins of the Arksey Railway Pond are not so clear though. It could have been created when the railway was being constructed; for instance, earth would have been needed to create the railway embankment, and as a similar, if smaller pond is also to be found at the side of the railway line in Shaftholme, it strengthens the case for it to be man-made rather than natural.

Arksey fishing pond outlined (in red), 1854

For many years there were landing stages all around the pond and it was a popular place for anglers to pursue their hobby. 

All the fish have now been removed from the pond and it has gone out of use.

Arksey Fishing Pond
Photo courtesy of Janice Lowe

Stockbridge Farm

Stockbridge Farm from the opposite side of Arksey fishing pond, photo taken in the 1980's

Stockbridge Farm dates from the early seventeenth century. The farmhouse is comprised of two storeys and an attic over two ranges. The rear range is lower and has an end chimney stack. The building has been altered and is now pebble-dashed. There is a roof of Welsh slate and twentieth century cement tiles.

The interior had some interesting panelling in the front-left room, it was removed to Doncaster Museum in the 1990's.

Despite being Grade II listed, the property has been unoccupied for many years and is now derelict.

Below are two photos of how the farmhouse and outbuildings look today.

© Copyright Jonathan Thacker and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

© Copyright Jonathan Thacker and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Later Occupants of Stockbridge Farm

Although it is not always possible to work out from census returns who lived at a specific property, just occasionally the property will be named and then it is possible to see roughly how long those residents remained there.

Stockbridge Farm 1854

As we saw earlier John Hall was the last male of his line to live at Stockbridge Farm; following his death in 1681, his sister Mary moved to a property in Arksey to see out her remaining years. After this last record there is quite a gap until the next named record for the farm, this came up in the 1851 census, 170 years later.

Lawrence Norcliffe, originally from Wadworth lived and farmed at Stockbridge Farm from at least 1851 when he first appears in the census for Stockbridge. At the age of 37 he and his wife Martha (38) had two children and three servants living at the property. Martha died in 1858, so on the 1861 census Lawrence, now a widower remained at the farm with his two children. Also there were his retired father George, and two servants. Lawrence remarried later that year, to Eliza Lambert. By 1871 they had moved into a property in Arksey. 

Lawrence died in 1894 and Eliza died in 1909, their grave can be seen in Arksey Old Cemetery.

The Norcliffe grave

It is impossible to tell from the census who lived at Stockbridge Farm in the years 1871 and 1881. However, by 1891 a Scottish farmer by the name of James Mitchell had taken on the property.

He and his wife Janet were both aged 44 in 1891 and had six children. They appear on the following two censuses, 1901 and 1911, but the last record of them at Stockbridge Farm is on the 1912 electoral register.

'Farmer Jackson' - Boxer

Following the departure of the Mitchells, the next family to occupy the farm were the Jacksons. Joseph Jackson and his wife Elizabeth moved in around 1913/14. They had three sons, George, Frank and Roland, and possibly a daughter Isabella.

One of the sons made a name for himself in the world of boxing. Nicknamed 'Farmer Jackson', this welterweight fighter was active between 1921 and 1939. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find out which of the sons 'Farmer Jackson' was. 

A news report of February 1933 gives some insight into his abilities, which included 32 career wins out of 55 matches.

News cutting from unknown source, 1933

The Jackson family remained at Stockbridge Farm right into the 1960's, but with online records unavailable after 1962, nothing more could be found.

Hamlet Hopping

Now our little tour of Arksey's hamlets is over I think you will agree that these often overlooked little communities have a more interesting past than you would have imagined?

These sleepy, rural retreats have had their fair share of interesting inhabitants, tragedies, wealth and poverty.

Each place had a different tale to tell; from the enigmatic Drum and Monkey in Shaftholme to the ancient moat at Tilts, and the famous family connections in Almholme, to finally, the charitable people of Stockbridge. All this hidden history on our doorstep and who knew?

It just goes to show that however small the place, however insignificant it seems it is worthy of our respect for the things it has seen.

Maybe next time you are driving through or passing by these tiny communities you might think about all the history that has occurred there and give them more than a passing glance?

__________

For part one on Shaftholme go to Local Hamlets Part One - Shaftholme.

For part two on Tilts go to Local Hamlets Part Two - Tilts.

For part three on Almholme go to Local Hamlets Part Three - Almholme.



Alison Vainlo 

Written 2017, updated 2020