St Michael's
Stoney Stanton
Notices
Village and Community
In Guthlaxton Wapentake...............Robert the Bursar holds in STANTONE 6 caracutes of land. Land for [.........ploughs]. 7 villagers with 3 smallholders have 3 ploughs; 4 free men. Meadow, 12 acres; woodland 3 furlongs long and 1 furlong wide.
The value was and is 20s.
So ran the entry in the Survey of 1086, Domesday, for the village now known as Stoney Stanton. The very name ‘Stantone’ - a ‘stony place’ indicates the nature of the situation, later of course compounded by the addition of a further ‘Stoney’ to the title.
The village is built on a rocky outcrop of ancient grano-diorite, an unyielding stone much prized for roadmaking, a fact for which the village paid a heavy price during the nineteenth century. Although stone had been used for earlier roadmaking, the Victorian quarry-owners exploited the village’s resources to the maximum - quarrying within feet of local houses, opening up massive pits in the very centre of the community. Carey Hill Pit was filled in during the 1960’s, with spoil from the building of the M1 motorway, an operation which also removed the hard core from nearby ‘tips’. Lanes Hill, or ‘Top Pit’ was developed as the Stoney Cove Diving Centre, Clint Hill Pit has become a pleasant natural feature in the centre of the village, used by local fishing clubs who delight in its copious quantities of coarse fish.
The quarries did provide employment for local men, during the time that they were being developed, and local sett-makers provided stone cobbles for the streets of many a town and city. It is rumoured that the best stone of the village lies under St.Michael’s Church, a fact which is born out by the difficulty in recent times of earthing the lightning conductor on the tower satisfactorily! A suggestion that the church be resited elsewhere in order that quarrying be carried out is said to have met with fierce resistance from villagers.
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Although there has been much residential development in the village since the 1960’s, there is a core community of established families still living in the area. Newcomers have been readily welcomed into the place, and many have made their own particular contribution to the local concerns. A number of older properties make up the heart of the village, and there is a good selection of local shops, a library, and doctor’s surgery serving the area.
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The church stands in a prime position within the centre of the village, and is mostly built of local granite. It is of ancient origin as is evidenced by the Tympanum over the vestry door on the North side. This was removed from a Norman doorway on the South side of the church during the nineteenth century extension of the South aisle. The figures on it have never been fully identified, it appears to represent a Bishop, hand raised in blessing while some sort of dragon is being overcome. Theories range from it being a representation of St.Michael overcoming the powers of evil as described in the Book of Revelation, to a depiction of St.Wilfred overcoming pagan forces during the Christianisation of the area. Certainly it has been suggested that churches dedicated to St. Michael were often built on pagan sites, particularly those situated, as was customary, on a rise in the ground. |
The church is surrounded by a graveyard, now closed and in the care of the local authority, and contains many fine, mature trees. During springtime it is carpeted with spring flowers, particularly on the North side, including snowdrops, primroses and lesser celandine. Much work has been carried out by the local Heritage Group to identify and catalogue graves in the vicinity of the church, and the memorials within. The present cemetery lies to the West of the church, in Nock Verges.
| I cannot conclude this section without mentioning the past use of this curiously named road. It takes its name from ‘nock’ or ‘notch’ on an archery bow, and ‘verge’, a green area. During medieval times it was from time to time essential to be able to raise a militia at short notice from among the young men of the land, and therefore the skill of using the longbow, the prime English weapon, had to be constantly honed. Young men were expected to practice the art on a regular basis, in the little free time available to them, usually after Sunday Service, at the local archery butts, which very often lay close to the church. It is highly likely that the name of this straight roadway has its roots directly in this edict. A similarly named lane exists in nearby Earl Shilton, and Hinckley, five miles away has its own Butt Lane. There are marks near to the vestry door, on the cornerstones of the chancel, believed to have been left by the same young men as they honed the viciously sharp points of their arrows prior to practice. |  |
St.Michael’s occupies a proud position in the village’s heart, and has witnessed the community’s joys and sorrows, as well as its daily life over the centuries. It has been a place of worship for villagers, seeing the turmoil of Civil Wars as well as more peaceful times. Its graveyard contains graves of those killed in conflict, and the village war memorial listing the names of young men of the community who died in the service of their country, as well as the unmarked graves of villagers reaching back into antiquity. But it remains a living church, working in and with the village, a centre for the Christian faith for which it was built.
It is hoped that this site will help you to find out more about our village church, a building which represents the faith of villagers both past and present.