England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stoke Wake All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Stoke Wake lies in central Dorset roughly 10 miles west of the market town of Blandford Forum. Stoke Wake sits within an area devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such road being some 4 miles westward, the B3143 linking Dorchester with the A367 (Sturminster Newton to Wincanton) road. Stoke Wake is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet which sits on a steep hillside topped with the Iron Age hill-fort of Rawlsbury Camp, there is a small run of properties along a lane near the former church and the wider parish has dotted farms and cottages. The hill on which Stoke Wake stands is chalk giving short and sweet turf much suited to the sheep that made up the main economy of this small parish. Stoke Wake is drained northwards by a small stream, one of many that coalesce into the River Divelish, after a short run north the Divellish meets the Stour and water reverses direction to the southeast to eventually reach the sea through Christchurch Harbour. Stoke Wake is sited on strongly rising ground from 140 metres at the former church to 180 metres at the top of its run of properties, Rawlsbury Camp reaches 236 metres only to be over-topped by Woolland Hill at 274. Stoke Wake parish was small covering only a little over 1,000 acres and would have supported a population of around 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Stoke Wake was held by Shaftesbury Abbey and offered 4 ploughs, meadows, pastures & woodland and a mill.

The Church

All Saints' church has been deconsecrated and sold as a private home with access now restricted accordingly. The church is not a medieval structure rather it was built as a replacement in 1872. There is a nave, apsed chancel, a northern aisle and a bellcote with nothing to inspire Pevsner further in a terse account. The church was accessed by a rough track headed eastwards at the point where the main lane through the hamlet left woodland.