Parishes: Stockton

STOCKTON

The parish of Stockton, in the Wylye valley 18 km. WNW. of Salisbury and 13 km. ESE. of Warminster, measured 2,122 a. (859 ha.). (fn. 1) It is on the south side of the Wylye, running back from the river to the downs as a rectangle 4 km. from north to south and 2.5 km. from east to west. A number of parishes in the Wylye valley, including Stockton's near neighbours Boyton, Fisherton de la Mere, and Wylye, contained more than a single village and were divided into several townships or tithings. (fn. 2) Stockton almost became such a parish: it contained two sets of commonable fields based on separate definable settlements. (fn. 3) Its division, however, was never institutionalized. Its settlements, called the east end and the west end of Stockton, were never differently named nor deemed separate in administration or government. The transfer of Bapton from Fisherton de la Mere in 1934 increased Stockton to 1,334 ha. (3.296 a.). (fn. 4)

The boundaries of Stockton were defined and recorded in 901 in terms which suggest that they were afterwards little changed. (fn. 5) To the north the Wylye separates it from Codford St. Mary, and to the south Grim's ditch separates it from Fonthill Bishop and Chilmark on the watershed of Wylye and Nadder. To the west the boundary with Sherrington follows a coomb, but to the east that with Bapton was drawn straight. The geology and relief of the parish are typical of the Wylye valley. (fn. 6) Near the river alluvium and gravel, and on the downs clay-with-flints, have been deposited on the otherwise outcropping chalk. The land slopes in ridges and dry valleys from the watershed, 207 m. near the boundary with Fonthill Bishop, to the Wylye, below 76 m. The pattern of land-use has also been typical, with meadow land on the alluvium, pasture and arable land on the gravel, arable land on the nearer and rough pasture on the further chalk, and Stockton wood on the clay-with-flints. In the 18th century the clay-with-flints west of Stockton wood was apparently ploughed, (fn. 7) and in the 20th century there has been afforestation on the downs. (fn. 8)

Stockton downs have been crossed by three main routes. The Roman road from Old Salisbury to the Mendips, which was possibly a ridge way in origin, passed through Stockton wood. (fn. 9) A downland road from Warminster to Wilton via Teffont Magna and Dinton passed between Stockton wood and an Iron-Age settlement called Stockton earthworks. Its crossing of Grim's ditch marked the south-east corner of the parish. (fn. 10) It was presumably ancient and was apparently well used in the later 18th century and the early 19th, (fn. 11) but it was not turnpiked and was superseded by other routes. The Amesbury—Mere road crosses the south-east corner of the parish. It was turnpiked between Amesbury and Willoughby Hedge in West Knoyle under an Act of 1762 and has become part of the main London—Exeter road. (fn. 12) Stockton is on the road linking Sherrington, Wylye, and the other villages on the south bank of the Wylye, which was turnpiked between Little Langford and Boyton as a branch of the road from Amesbury to Willoughby Hedge. (fn. 13) That road has never been so well used as the Warminster—Wilton road north of the Wylye, with which Stockton is linked by the bridge at Codford St. Mary. From Stockton village a road ran south past Conygar barn across the downs to Chilmark. (fn. 14) It has never been made up and was no more than a track in 1978. The Wilts., Somerset & Weymouth railway line, which was built by the G.W.R. across the parish a little south of the village, was opened between Warminster and Salisbury in 1856. (fn. 15) Wylye and Codford were the nearest stations, both closed in 1955. (fn. 16)

There are a few barrows in Stockton but archaeological discoveries have been most numerous at Stockton earthworks, a settlement site of some 100 a. which has twice been excavated. (fn. 17) The settlement, one of several on the downs between the Wylye and the Nadder, lasted from the late pre-Roman Iron Age to the late Roman Period. It was a farming village but may have been additionally a posting station and even a minor market. It declined after 370. (fn. 18) The later settlement was on lower land. The charter which described its lands in 901 did not mention Stockton or a village, (fn. 19) and it is likely that the village of Stockton, first mentioned in 1086, (fn. 20) originated after and perhaps as a result of that early10th-century charter. It was founded like so many other villages on the gravel shelf near the Wylye. (fn. 21) Among those villages Stockton was of slightly above average wealth in the early 14th century, and there were 140 poll-tax payers in 1377, again above average for the Wylye valley. (fn. 22) Stockton's assessments appear high because they included what might elsewhere have been reckoned two villages. (fn. 23) In the 16th and 17th centuries taxation assessments were possibly about average. (fn. 24) In 1801 and 1811 the population was 224. It had risen to 307 by 1841 but thereafter declined almost without interruption to 177 in 1931. The population of the enlarged parish was 268 in 1951, 214 in 1971. (fn. 25)

Settlement in Stockton village apparently began at the east end, where a nucleated village a short distance south of the Sherrington—Wylye road was clustered around the church, demesne farm-house, and rectory-house. Settlement at the west end, which was presumably later, was along the road as a street village. The two could be distinguished c. 1627 when the tenements in the west end were listed, (fn. 26) and until the mid 20th century there was a short space between them. The original and different patterns of settlement at the two ends can still be discerned but both have been modified. The east end spread westwards along the Sherrington— Wylye road, and buildings which presumably originated as small tenant farmsteads have given that end too the appearance of a street village. The lane to the church and Long Hall has never been made up and, perhaps c. 1900, was gated. There is in it a range of much altered 17th-century thatched cottages and, at its junction with the street, the school and an 18th-century house on which a late-15th-century stone mantelpiece from a house in Codford has been incorporated in the porch. (fn. 27) Near that house is the stump of the village cross which was moved from the west end c. 1604. (fn. 28) In the 18th century two substantial houses were built further east, a two-storey farm-house of chequered stone and flint bearing the date 1740 and the new rectoryhouse. The farm-house, which became Glebe Farm, was given an attic storey in 1864. (fn. 29) The farm buildings north-east of it are of the 19th and 20th centuries. A few of the cottages and small houses at the east end standing in 1815 have been demolished but most remain. (fn. 30) The 17th-century origins of the majority are apparent, and there are more of the 18th century there than at the west end. There has been very little building since 1815. The erection of three large buildings away from the street has given settlement at the west end a slightly more dispersed appearance than it perhaps had originally. Stockton Manor (formerly Manor Farm) was built south of the street, apparently in the Middle Ages, on arable land at the boundary between the east and west end fields. (fn. 31) In the 1590s Stockton House was built nearer the river on common pasture land north-west of the street. (fn. 32) Much of the land around it was later imparked and the direct road from Codford bridge to the village was closed. In the mid 19th century farm buildings called New (later Dairy) Farm were erected west of the village on higher land south of the Sherrington—Wylye road. (fn. 33) Most of the cottages in the street, including the Carrier's Arms built in the early 19th century when it was called the New Inn, (fn. 34) are on the north side. (fn. 35) They include a gardener's cottage of the 19th century at the entrance to Stockton park, a range of thatched cottages built in 1962, and several cottages apparently of 17th-century origin. On the south side are two 17th-century farm-houses, one dated 1693, the other restored in 1966. (fn. 36) The space between the east and west ends on the north side of the street was filled in 1948 when ten council houses were built. (fn. 37) Two more were built later. A downland farmstead where two houses were being built in 1831 (fn. 38) was occupied in the 19th century, but apart from that there has been no settlement outside the village.

Manors and other Estates.

An estate by the Wylye, known to be that later called the manor of STOCKTON, (fn. 39) was forfeited in the late 9th century by the ealdorman Wulfhere and his wife when he deserted his lord and king, probably at the time of the Danish invasion. King Edward the Elder granted the land to Athelwulf in 901 when it was settled on Deorswith, apparently on her marriage to Athelwulf. (fn. 40) In 946 or 947 it was devised by Athelwold to clothe the canons of the Old Minster at Winchester. (fn. 41) Stockton passed with the see as one of the manors held by the bishops to support the monks of St. Swithun's, (fn. 42) was confirmed to the prior and monks by the pope in 1205, (fn. 43) and in 1284 was quitclaimed to the prior and convent by Bishop Pontoise as part of the composition between them. (fn. 44) Free warren was granted in 1300. (fn. 45) After the Dissolution the manor was among the estates with which in 1541 the dean and chapter of Winchester were endowed, (fn. 46) but in 1547 it was granted to Edward VI who immediately granted it to Sir William Herbert (created earl of Pembroke in 1551). (fn. 47) In 1585 Pembroke's son Henry, earl of Pembroke, sold it to John Topp, a citizen and merchant tailor of London. (fn. 48) Topp (fl. 1524, d. 1596) was a younger son of Thomas Topp (d. 1560) and grandson of Thomas Archbold alias Topp (fl. 1544), both of whom were yeomen holding in Stockton by copy and lease. John belonged to the first of three generations of the family in each of which two brothers were called John. (fn. 49) In 1595 he settled the manor and other land in Stockton which he had bought before 1585 (fn. 50) on his nephew John, elder son John of John's elder brother John Topp (d. 1573) of Stockton. (fn. 51) The nephew John, sheriff of Wiltshire 1630–1, was succeeded in 1632 by his elder son John (d. 1640) whose heir was his brother John (d. 1660). John's heir was his brother Edward (d. 1665) who was succeeded by his son John (d. 1675), that John's son Edward (d. 1740), and Edward's son John (d.s.p. 1745). (fn. 52) The last John Topp's heirs were his sisters Susan, wife of Robert Everard, and Christiana, wife of Richard Lansdown. The Everards had a daughter Susan, wife of Robert Everard Balch, and in 1749 the Balches held the manor except for Lower farm. (fn. 53) In 1772 Balch sold it to Henry Biggs (d. 1800) whose heir was his son Harry (d. 1856). (fn. 54) Lower farm, sold by Lansdown to John Pinchard c. 1755, had passed c. 1760 to Pinchard's son William Wansborough Pinchard (d. 1815). William was succeeded by his son John and grandson William Price Pinchard who in 1841 sold the farm to Harry Biggs. (fn. 55) Biggs was succeeded by his son Henry Godolphin Biggs (d. 1877) and he by his nephew Maj.-Gen. Arthur Godolphin Yeatman who took the additional name Biggs in 1878. Yeatman-Biggs (d. 1898) was succeeded by his brother Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman (Yeatman-Biggs from 1898, d. 1922), bishop successively of Southwark, Worcester, and Coventry, who in 1898 bought Glebe farm. (fn. 56) In 1921 Bishop Yeatman-Biggs sold the manor to the Hon. Violet Frances SkeffingtonSmyth (d. 1930) who in 1927 sold it to Oswald Toynbee Falk. (fn. 57) In 1934 Falk sold it to the Hon. Michael Simon Scott (d. 1938). (fn. 58) In 1950 Scott's widow sold it to Mr. J. M. Stratton who owned the land in 1978. (fn. 59) Glebe farm passed in 1922 to Bishop Yeatman-Biggs's son William Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs at whose death in 1952 it passed to his grandson Mr. N. H. Yeatman-Biggs, the owner in 1978. (fn. 60)

A new farm-house called Lower Farm in the 17th century and now Long Hall was built on the manor in the Middle Ages. Two smoke-blackened trusses in the roof of the main east-west range of Long Hall are those of the medieval house. In the 16th century a massive chimney stack and a first floor were built in the hall and in the 17th century balancing wings were added to the south side of the range at the east and west ends. Surviving 17th-century fittings include the staircase in the eastern wing and some stone fire-places. In the later 18th century the north front was refaced, presumably for a Pinchard. It is of red brick with stone dressings and a central doorway beneath a Venetian window which lights a refitted first floor drawing-room with a moulded plaster ceiling. In 1900 new doorways were made in the inner faces of the south wings and short wings were added on the east and west sides. (fn. 61) In 1902 the house was leased to Henry Martin Foster-Vesey-FitzGerald (d. 1924). (fn. 62) It has since been the home of the Yeatman-Biggses. In 1923 more extensive kitchen and service quarters were added on the south and west of the west wing which had most of its floors and walls removed to form a new diningroom and picture gallery. (fn. 63)

In the late 1590s John Topp (d. 1632) built Stockton House on land of his estate called Gifford's in the then open west marsh. (fn. 64) The house passed with the manor of Stockton. It has walls of banded flint and sarsen and the plan is that of a simple rectangle, four bays by three. (fn. 65) It is, however, not certain that all the rectangle was at first, as now, built over, or whether there was originally an open central court built over in the early 19th century. The original entrance was through a three-storey porch set near the centre of the west front and into the south end of a north-west hall. The original decoration of all but one of the rooms on the ground floor has been destroyed but there are two richly moulded ceilings on the first floor and some panelling, most notably in the drawing-room. (fn. 66) There, as elsewhere in the house, the panelling appears structurally later than the ceiling and may even have been reset from another room or house. In 1802 Jeffry Wyatt designed a new staircase and redecorated several small rooms in the centre of the east side of the house. (fn. 67) He may also have made the south doorway. The sills of some of the windows in the south and west fronts have been lowered. Between 1877 and 1882 extensive restorations and additions were carried out under Edmund and E. B. Ferrey for Maj.-Gen. A. G. Yeatman-Biggs. (fn. 68) The hall was decorated in the Jacobean style and an arcaded opening was made from it into the staircase hall. Additions were made on the north side of the house and continued as a two-storeyed service wing which projected some distance beyond the east front. When O. T. Falk owned the house most of the Ferreys' decorations were removed and several antique fittings, including an early-16thcentury fire-place in the hall, were introduced. After 1945 all the late-19th-century additions except the water-tower and the east wing were removed. Extensive restoration work, notably on the staircase hall and the landing, has recently been done. Close to the north-west corner of the house is a mid-17thcentury building which was formerly a chapel, (fn. 69) and beyond it there is a range of 17th-century stables.

Free tenure in lands assessed at 5 hides and 2½ hides was created between 1066 and 1086. The lands were then held respectively by Richer and Anschitil from whom their descents cannot be traced. (fn. 70)

In 1215 a fee of Walter de Vernon in Stockton was forfeited and ordered to be given to the bishop of Winchester because of Walter's opposition to King John, but it was presumably restored. (fn. 71) The land seems to have been Robert Vernon's in 1270 and to have passed to his son John. (fn. 72) It possibly passed in the Vernon family with land in Horningsham and, by the marriage of Isabel daughter of Richard Vernon (fl. 1333) to Peter Stantor, directly to members of the Stantor family, (fn. 73) but there is no proof of that. In 1419 a holding which had possibly been Vernon's was settled on Walter Tornay who held it in 1428, and in 1462 John Tornay apparently held it. (fn. 74) In 1479, however, land in Stockton, later reputed a manor called STOCKTON STANTOR, (fn. 75) belonged to Alexander Stantor who died seised of it in 1504. (fn. 76) Alexander's heir was his son Peter whose grandson Thomas Stantor held the land in 1544. (fn. 77) In 1591 Thomas's son Roger died seised of it and in 1592 Roger's son Alexander sold it to Jerome Potticary. (fn. 78) By his will Potticary (d. 1596) gave his elder son Christopher the option to buy the land for the very low sum of £200 from his younger son Jerome, to whom he devised it, within 3 years of his death or their majorities. Christopher paid and Jerome released the land to him in 1615. (fn. 79) In the early 17th century John Topp (d. 1632) and Christopher Potticary disputed the lordship of the common and waste lands at the west end of Stockton, on which Topp had built Stockton House and which had afterwards been inclosed. By successfully claiming rent in respect of Potticary's land Topp denied that land's status of manor and Potticary's claim to the lordship. The two men only 'little by little grew good friends'. (fn. 80) In 1649 Potticary (d. 1650) (fn. 81) sold the estate to John Topp (d. 1660), and the lands were merged with Stockton manor. (fn. 82) A house stood on the reputed manor south of the village at the west end. In 1544 Thomas Stantor leased some of the lands to Thomas Archbold alias Topp on the condition that Topp should build a new hall-house on the site of a predecessor. (fn. 83) The condition was apparently met, and part of Topp's house was possibly the timber-framed range, jettied to the north, which was demolished in the 19th century. (fn. 84) The remainder of Topp's house was presumably demolished when in 1618, soon after he had acquired full seisin of the land, Christopher Potticary added a stone block containing principal rooms to the east. (fn. 85) In 1832 the interior of the block was altered to provide a new staircase hall. (fn. 86) In 1968 Mr. J. M. Stratton added a new building containing kitchen and service rooms to the south-west with Chilmark stone re-used from Tisbury workhouse. (fn. 87) The house was called Stockton Manor in 1978. To the north is a cruck-framed building formerly used as a barn and to the west of that a large 17thcentury thatched barn with a later extension to the north.

In 1249 John de Thyny was overlord of land in Stockton (fn. 88) which apparently passed to John Vernon (fl. 1272). John Vernon granted the services due to him from it to John Tornay who was succeeded by his son John, his grandson John Tornay, and that John's son Walter (fl. 1344). (fn. 89) In 1249 and under John Vernon the tenant in demesne was Thomas Andrew, (fn. 90) possibly a descendant of Robert son of Andrew who held land in Stockton in 1199 and 1224. (fn. 91) Thomas was succeeded by his son Richard who granted much of the land freely to John Petefyn (fl. 1290) and his wife Joan. (fn. 92) That land was Alice Petefyn's in 1344. (fn. 93) In 1349 it was settled on her and her husband Richard Farley who already held an estate in Stockton. (fn. 94) Alice and Richard were apparently childless but the land seems to have descended in the Farley family, presumably through the heirs of Richard's younger brother Richard, (fn. 95) to John Farley (fl. 1416–17) and his son John on whom it was settled in 1439–40. (fn. 96) The estate was apparently held by a succession of John Farleys, by Thomas Farley in 1533–4, (fn. 97) and in 1555 by John Farley of Stratford sub Castle whose relict Elizabeth, then wife of Richard Ockeden, held it in 1565. (fn. 98) It was afterwards acquired by a Topp and in 1619 FARLEY'S belonged to John Topp (d. 1632). (fn. 99) It was merged with Stockton manor.

In 1290 Walter Scudamore entered on a freely held estate, (fn. 100) in the 16th century called GIFFORD'S. Its previous owners are not known but it was possibly the knight's fee held by Sir Henry de Stawell in the 1260s and formerly by Robert Gifford, to whom Scudamore may have been related. (fn. 101) In 1293 Scudamore sought to replevy the land which had been taken into the king's hand for his default in a plea of Mabel, relict of his uncle Peter Scudamore who presumably held the land before him. (fn. 102) Walter Scudamore held it in 1294, (fn. 103) and the estate passed in the Scudamore family like the manor of Upton Scudamore to Thomas Reynes who in 1416 sold it to John Osborne. (fn. 104) It passed in the Osborne family, members of which held land at Boreham in Warminster. (fn. 105) John's son John died before 1446. (fn. 106) The land passed to Alice Osborne, presumably the son's widow, who was succeeded c. 1466 by her son Robert Osborne. (fn. 107) By 1492 it had descended to Robert's son Gregory (d. before 1518), and it passed, as did Boreham, to Thomas Gifford who was a grandson of Elizabeth, sister of a John Osborne, and Edward Gifford. (fn. 108) Thomas's father Maurice was a feoffee of Gregory Osborne in 1492. (fn. 109) Thomas held the land until his death between 1566 and 1577. (fn. 110) In 1582 his son John sold it to John Topp (d. 1596), and Gifford's was in 1585 merged with Stockton manor. (fn. 111) John Topp (d. 1632) built Stockton House on what had been Gifford's. (fn. 112)

In 1194 Ernold de Genuges held a free tenement. (fn. 113) In 1236 Thomas of Bapton and Cecily de Genuges conveyed an estate, possibly the same one, to Thomas le Porter. (fn. 114) It apparently passed in the Porter family. Thomas and Andrew Porter held land freely in 1282, (fn. 115) and Richard Porter of Sparsholt apparently held it before 1294. (fn. 116) In 1309 Andrew Porter of Sparsholt conveyed it to John Pedeleure, (fn. 117) possibly in trust since Porters continued to live and hold land in Stockton. (fn. 118) In 1392 Edward Porter succeeded Thomas Porter in the land. (fn. 119) In 1458 John Greenfields held freely an estate called Porter's, (fn. 120) which possibly passed to John Cockerell who settled an estate later called EYRE'S on himself and his wife Joan in 1493. (fn. 121) After Cockerell's death his land passed, apparently before 1514, to Robert Eyre, the husband of Cockerell's relative and heir Elizabeth. (fn. 122) Cockerell's executor conveyed it to Eyre in 1528–9. (fn. 123) Eyre's land passed to his son William and after William's death to John Cooke of Ringwood (Hants). (fn. 124) In 1586 Cooke sold it to Jerome Potticary and from 1592 Eyre's passed with the reputed manor of Stockton Stantor. (fn. 125)

Economic History.

Prehistoric stock husbandry and agriculture on the downs are indicated by the evidence of enclosures near the site of the settlement at Stockton earthworks and of the extensive field system north and east of it. (fn. 126) In 901 Stockton was reckoned as 10 hides, in 946 or 947 as 12 hides, and in 1066 again as 10 hides. (fn. 127) In 1086 it contained the demesne lands of the bishop of Winchester, 3½ hides, the lands of his 4 villeins and 6 bordars, and the lands of his 2 free tenants, highly rated at 7½ hides. Each class of land had on it 2 ploughs. The demesne was worth over £5, the tenants' lands £4. There were 10 a. of meadow, pasture 5 furlongs by 2 furlongs, and 40 a. of woodland. (fn. 128) Later there were at Stockton two separate units of common husbandry, each with its own arable fields, meadows, and pastures. That in the eastern half of the parish was the demesne and customarily held lands of Stockton manor, worked from the settlement at the east end, and that in the western half was the freeholders' land, worked from the settlement at the west end. (fn. 129) The two were separated by the drove leading to the down past the present Stockton Manor. (fn. 130) In 1566 the east end contained some 23 yardlands, c. 1627 the west end some 24 yardlands; the two ends some 1,150 a. and 950 a. respectively in 1815. (fn. 131) The separate development of the two units cannot be precisely dated. It is, however, possible that the grant of extensive land to be held freely, made by the bishop between 1066 and 1086, (fn. 132) either laid the foundation of or reflected the existence of the division, and likely that, although not unequivocally mentioned in documents earlier than the 16th century, the two economic units of the manor were separate throughout the Middle Ages.

The demesne and customary land at the east end included some 450 a. of arable land c. 1810. (fn. 133) That was worked in two fields in the 13th century, (fn. 134) in four in the 16th century and later. (fn. 135) South of it there were also some 450 a. of common down c. 1810. (fn. 136) In the 13th century, when great areas were said to be ploughed, (fn. 137) there was perhaps more arable land and less pasture, and in the later Middle Ages perhaps less arable land and more pasture since in the 17th and 18th centuries, when sheep stints were reduced, (fn. 138) pasture was possibly going under the plough. In 1566 there were nominally over 500 a. of arable land. The area of down, which included a cow down, was clearly under-estimated at 200 a. There was a common meadow, Broad mead, c. 15 a., and a common pasture, East marsh, 3½ a., for the tenants who also had certain feeding rights in the demesne Oxen marsh, c. 2 a. (fn. 139)

In 1248 a nominal 260 a. were sown on the demesne, (fn. 140) a figure rather below average for the 13th century, and in 1316 a nominal 292 a. were sown. (fn. 141) The demesne land was scattered about the fields but, at least in the 16th century, was largely in complete furlongs. (fn. 142) By then Conygar close, 2 a., had been inclosed. (fn. 143) In the Middle Ages labour services seem to have been largely sufficient to cultivate the demesne. (fn. 144) They were supplemented or replaced by wage labour in the 13th century but remained the basis of demesne cultivation in the 14th. (fn. 145) The arable land, meadows, and lowland pastures of the prior and convent of St. Swithun's demesne had been leased by 1396. (fn. 146) In 1248 over 400 demesne wethers were kept on the common downs, (fn. 147) and throughout the 13 th century totals over 300 were normal. In the later 13th century a ewe flock of c. 50 was kept for the prior and convent, (fn. 148) but afterwards the wether flock was usually supplied from their breeding flocks at Enford and Alton Priors. (fn. 149) The flock was not leased with the land, and wool continued to be supplied from Stockton to St. Swithun's until c. 1484 when the flock was leased. By then, however, it had been reduced from over 400 in the early 15th century to between 150 and 200. (fn. 150) In 1566 the demesne farm measured some 250 a. with feeding for 690 sheep. The farmer shared his 4 a. in Broad mead and 3 a. called Black mead north of the Wylye with the farmer of Fonthill Bishop manor. (fn. 151)

In the later 13th century there were some 4 virgaters, 12½-virgaters, and 7 other customary tenants. They owed low money rents and labour services based on harvest work for the virgaters, work 3 days a week and additionally in certain seasons for the ½-virgaters, and daily harvest work and a day a week at other times for the remainder. When works were performed there were large allowances of produce and food. (fn. 152) Personal servitude, which was still occasionally noticed in the 16th century, (fn. 153) perhaps survived longer at Stockton than was usual elsewhere. In 1566 twelve copyholders shared some 12 yardlands, each of which was reckoned to contain a nominal 24 a. of arable land, a small close, rights in the common meadow and marsh, and feeding for 60 sheep and stints for other animals. They held a nominal 274 a. of arable land and rights for 690 sheep. (fn. 154)

By the early 18th century some 9 a. of upland pasture had been inclosed, allotted in at least ten several pieces, and converted to arable, and part of Stockton wood had apparently been made a cow down, 28 a. (fn. 155) The demesne had by then been split into at least two, Lower farm and a farm worked from a house called Luxous. (fn. 156) It was later reunited as Lower farm by William Wansborough Pinchard who apparently occupied and added to his farm some land he held by lease. (fn. 157) About 1765 most of the remaining east end lands of Stockton manor were held by lease. The pattern seems to have remained one of small- or medium-sized holdings worked from farmsteads in the street. (fn. 158) The largest known is that of John Barnes, 69 a. with feeding rights in 1759. (fn. 159) Until the later 18th century husbandry remained genuinely in common, the frequent changes in its rules and practices being constantly recorded by the manor court. (fn. 160) By the time that the Stockton Inclosure Act was passed in 1809, however, the Biggses had kept in hand or bought nearly all the leaseholds. (fn. 161) After inclosure, which was apparently in 1810 although an award was not made until 1815, (fn. 162) the east end was split almost entirely into two several farms. John Pinchard's (Lower), some 195 a. of his own and some 70 a. held by lease from Harry Biggs, was worked from Long Hall; the rector's (Glebe), some 650 a. allotted to replace glebe in the west end and tithes, was worked from a farmstead north of the Sherrington—Wylye road given by Biggs in exchange for land. (fn. 163)

The freeholders' land at the west end c. 1810 included some 400 a. of arable in which the usual strip cultivation prevailed, (fn. 164) a roughly similar area of down, an apparently common meadow, and a common marsh. (fn. 165) It was earlier divided among some five principal estates of which only Stantor's is known to have included land held by customary tenants. (fn. 166) Stantor's and Farley's were each assessed at 5 yardlands c. 1627, (fn. 167) Gifford's at 4 in 1353 and c. 1627, (fn. 168) Eyre's at 7 in 1566 and c. 1627, (fn. 169) and the glebe at 2 in 1341 and c. 1627. (fn. 170) None seems to have included land or feeding rights in the east end beyond very limited use of Broad mead. (fn. 171)

In the mid 16th century Topps took most of the lands on long leases, Eyre's before c. 1540, (fn. 172) 2½ yardlands of Stantor's in 1544 and ½ yardland later, (fn. 173) Gifford's in 1563, (fn. 174) and Farley's in 1565. (fn. 175) A lawsuit between a Thomas Topp and William Eyre over the use of Eyre's chief messuage c. 1545, and a lease in reversion by Eyre in 1559 expressly prohibiting assignment to Topp and his kinsmen, suggest that they could be difficult tenants. (fn. 176) About 1600 all the freeholds apart from the glebe belonged to John Topp (d. 1632) and Christopher Potticary. (fn. 177) Topp's were apparently merged into a single farm but, until lives ended and leases expired, Potticary had several tenants including Topp. Apparently by agreement between Topp, Potticary, and the rector the common marsh, on which Topp had built Stockton House, was divided and inclosed c. 1602. (fn. 178) The marsh was apparently a wide strip of land, perhaps 50 a., running from north-west to south-east between the Wylye and the old road to Codford St. Mary. (fn. 179) After inclosure parts of it were possibly irrigated for Topp by John Knight who irrigated Wylye meadows in 1632, lived at Stockton, and whose presumed relative William Knight held a close at the west end. (fn. 180) Topp's newly built weir on the Wylye was mentioned in 1633. (fn. 181) When it was mapped in 1640 the west end arable land included some 50 a. north of the Sherrington—Wylye road of which some 5 a. near Stockton House were in a new close. (fn. 182) There were then three fields in which the pattern of strips remained with only a few furlongs undivided. (fn. 183) By 1671 a fourth field had been created. To judge from the rector's stint feeding on the down was roughly at the rate of 40 sheep to a yardland in summer, 30 in winter. (fn. 184)

Topp's, possibly worked from buildings near Stockton House, and Potticary's, worked from the buildings later called Manor Farm (now Stockton Manor), apparently remained separate farms. (fn. 185) In the 18th century, however, the two were merged as Upper farm, worked from Manor Farm, and common husbandry was virtually eliminated. (fn. 186) By 1736 an area of down had been burn-baked, presumably the c. 60 a. on the clay-with-flints in the extreme south part of the parish called the Beaks in 1815. (fn. 187) It was divided between Edward Topp and the rector who was allotted 4 a. of arable land and 3 a. of furze. (fn. 188) The rector's arable land remained in scattered strips, but at least from 1789 they were leased to Henry Biggs and were presumably part of Upper farm. (fn. 189) The rector's commonable and inclosed lands in the west end were all allotted to and exchanged with Harry Biggs at inclosure when Upper became a several farm of c. 925 a. including some 60 a. of east end land. (fn. 190)

In the 19th century some 300 a. of woodland and park were kept in hand by the lords of the manor. (fn. 191) Manor (formerly Upper) farm, 952 a. in 1841, (fn. 192) was held by Thomas Chandler, whose patented liquidmanure drill was being manufactured by the firm of Reeves in 1848. (fn. 193) Lower remained a separate farm until c. 1870 when it was added to Manor; (fn. 194) the farm buildings at Long Hall were subsequently given up. For a short time in the late 19th century Glebe was possibly united to Manor, (fn. 195) but it has otherwise remained a separate mixed farm of some 650 a. (fn. 196) In the mid 19th century New (later Dairy) Farm was built as a new dairy for Manor farm, 1,120 a. in 1925. (fn. 197) Manor farm has since taken in much of the park-land around Stockton House, and in 1978 its c. 1,450 a. were worked by its owner with lands in Codford St. Mary and Chitterne as an extensive mixed farm. (fn. 198)

There were 40 a. of woodland in 1086. (fn. 199) In 1566 there were four coppices of hazels and small oaks, 56 a., presumably Stockton wood on the east end down, (fn. 200) which in 1613 John Topp (d. 1632) accused his tenant of Lower farm of misusing. (fn. 201) In 1815 there were in addition some 30 a. of woodland on the downs. (fn. 202) In the 20th century the woodland on the downs has been increased to some 250 a., including the former cow down, whose uses included sport and some commercial exploitation. (fn. 203)

The Topp and Potticary families both included clothiers. Richard (d. c. 1570), Jerome (d. 1596), and Christopher Potticary (d. 1650) were all described as clothiers. (fn. 204) Their business was presumably the manufacturing of cloth. Christopher was a prominent clothier who in 1611 sold broadcloths in London and in 1621 was charged with roving cloth outside a corporate town. (fn. 205) Later he favoured say-dyed cloths and c. 1627 was said to have £2,000 stock. (fn. 206) Although several Stockton weavers were named in the late 16th century and the 17th, (fn. 207) it is not clear how much of the Potticarys' manufacturing was at Stockton. John Topp (d. 1596), who bought Stockton manor, and another John Topp were London clothiers. (fn. 208) There is, however, no evidence that they practised their trade at Stockton.

There was a mill worth 10s. at Stockton in 1086. (fn. 209)

Local Government.

By 1248 the prior and convent of St. Swithun's had begun to hold a biannual private view of frankpledge and to enforce the assize of ale for Stockton. (fn. 210) The prior's liberty to do so by prescription was recorded in 1255, (fn. 211) and in the mid 13 th century courts were held at Martinmas and Hock-tide as was usual on the estates of both see and priory of Winchester. (fn. 212) Jurisdiction over the whole parish was claimed, (fn. 213) and only in the 17th century, when Christopher Potticary required his tenants in the west end to refuse to attend court or serve as tithingman, was the claim challenged, and then unsuccessfully. (fn. 214) Records of the courts held from the 13 th century to the 19th survive in unusual number. (fn. 215) They reveal, however, little unusual in the procedure and business of the courts. In the Middle Ages the normal business of the manor, pleas between tenants, payment of the incidents of personal servitude, and, especially when it was in hand, trespasses on the demesne, was recorded with the biannual view. Offences under leet jurisdiction were presented by the tithingman whose presentments were verified and sometimes supplemented by a jury of freemen from c. 1335. There was a constable in 1339. (fn. 216) Many affrays and breaches of the assize of ale were presented in the 14th century, but the number declined in the 15th so that in the 1490s the courts transacted comparatively little business. By then, however, public nuisances, proscribed games, and butchers' and bakers' offences were being occasionally dealt with. The courts were busier in the 16th and 17th centuries. Presentments in the view by the homage began to be recorded in the 1470s and in the 16th century the increasing numbers of public nuisances and breaches of manorial custom were presented by the free jurors. The tithingman was restricted to increasingly infrequent presentments of affrays and breaches of the assizes. In the 17th century the courts, or at least their recorded transactions, were split into a view of frankpledge proceeding on the presentments of a 'jury for the king' and a court baron held the same day and proceeding on the presentments of the homage. The jurors presented failures to repair roads, footpaths, and ditches and, for example, in 1629 listed those who had failed to obey an order of the parish overseers to repair. (fn. 217) The homage dealt with manorial business such as holdings needing repair and unlicensed sub-letting, and presented the customs of the manor and deaths of tenants. The two courts merged in the 18th century and became annual. The homage presented and in the later 18th century their presentment of the customs became almost the only business. That ceased at inclosure and the last court was held c. 1838.

There are overseers' accounts for the period 1661–1763. (fn. 218) They record expenditure of £9 9s. 6d. in 1660, a sum slightly below average for the period 1660–1700. Expenditure was over £20 a year in the period 1714–16 but otherwise averaged some £15 a year from 1700 to 1750. The old, the sick, and the young were relieved mainly by the provision of food, clothing, and fuel and of money to pay rent and to keep children. After 1750 regular doles were more often given and average expenditure roughly doubled in the period 1750–62. The parish joined Warminster poor-law union in 1835 when average expenditure on its poor was £105. (fn. 219) There are road surveyors' accounts for 1837–50 and various later records. (fn. 220)

Church.

A priest mentioned c. 1130 (fn. 221) possibly served a church at Stockton, but the earliest firm evidence of the church is later. Before 1172 Jocelin de Bohun, bishop of Salisbury, at the request of Henry de Blois, bishop of Winchester, and Walter, the prior in England of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, granted the church to the hospital of St. Cross near Winchester, founded by Bishop Blois and committed to the care of the prior. The church was among the hospital's possessions confirmed by Richard I in 1189. (fn. 222) Hubert Walter, bishop of Salisbury 1189–93, confirmed Jocelin's grant but required that a vicar should be provided for. (fn. 223) It is unlikely that a vicarage was ordained. Possibly after one of the late-12th-century disputes over the hospital between the bishop of Winchester and the prior of St. John's, the hospital apparently surrendered the church to the bishop of Winchester for a yearly pension from it of, £5, then a large proportion of its value. (fn. 224) It seems likely that the bishop appointed a rector since the advowson later passed with the see of Winchester. The king presented sede vacante in 1238. (fn. 225) The bishop's right of patronage was confirmed in 1284. (fn. 226) Presentations were made by bishops of Winchester except that in 1472 the bishop of Salisbury collated by lapse. (fn. 227) In 1852 the advowson was transferred to the see of Oxford and in 1885 by exchange to the dean and chapter of Salisbury. (fn. 228) In 1929 Bapton was transferred to Stockton parish from Fisherton de la Mere parish, (fn. 229) a transfer recommended by the parliamentary commissioners in 1650. (fn. 230) The rectory was united with the benefice of Wylye with Fisherton de la Mere in 1957. That united benefice was dissolved in 1973 when a new benefice of Codford St. Peter with St. Mary, Upton Lovell and Stockton was created. The dean and chapter of Salisbury had the right to alternate presentation from 1957 to 1973 and to a presentation third in turn after 1973. (fn. 231)

The living was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291, at £18 net in 1535, and at £115 net in 1650, valuations which suggest rather more than average income. (fn. 232) Under the inclosure award of 1815 the rector was allotted 623 a. in place of tithes and received by exchange a farmstead. (fn. 233) The living, with a net yearly income averaging £493 in the period 1829–31, was not poor in the 19th century. (fn. 234) The pension to St. Cross was still paid in the mid 19th century. (fn. 235) Glebe farm was sold in 1898. (fn. 236)

In 1341 the rector was possibly entitled to all the tithes of the whole parish. (fn. 237) The prior and convent of St. Swithun's later claimed freedom from tithes for the sheep on their demesne and moduses for the tithes of their hay and wood. About 1510 the rector denied the convent's claim which in respect of the sheep was then limited to the stock of 200 nominally leased to the farmer. (fn. 238) The exemption and moduses apparently continued. The lord of the manor claimed them in 1566, (fn. 239) and in the late 16th century and in 1671 they were recorded in terriers of the glebe. (fn. 240) In the early 18th century, however, when other tithes were paid in kind, the rector claimed tithe of the 200 sheep and tithe in kind from the former demesne meadows, both of which were then part of Lower farm. There was a decree in the rector's favour but Edward Topp refused to allow his tenant of Lower farm to pay more than the modus and the dispute was protracted. (fn. 241) In 1783 the moduses of 3d. for the hay of Lower farm and of 3s. 4d. for the eastern woods were paid. The rector was then entitled to the remaining tithes in kind, presumably including those of all the sheep on Lower farm. (fn. 242)

In the 13th century the glebe was reckoned as ½ hide, at Stockton equivalent to 2 virgates. (fn. 243) In the later 16th century and in 1608 it was estimated at 50–55 a., most of it at the west end, to which feeding rights for 2 virgates were attached. In 1783 it measured 51 a., again with feeding rights. (fn. 244) After inclosure Glebe farm was some 625 a. (fn. 245) In 1591 eight trees were granted for Stockton rectory-house, possibly being rebuilt by the then new rector. (fn. 246) The house adjoined the churchyard to the east. (fn. 247) In 1772 a malt-house attached to it, some service rooms, and a cottage on the glebe called 'the vicarage-house' were pulled down. (fn. 248) In 1783 the house consisted of five rooms on the ground floor and four on the first floor, and several extensions carried the range southwards. (fn. 249) A new house was built east of the old between 1790 and 1792 to designs of Anthony Sarjeant of Wimborne Minster (Dors.). (fn. 250) It has a principal front of five bays in red brick and a service wing to the south. There were additions and alterations at various times in the 19th century. The house was sold c. 1957. (fn. 251)

In 1393 the income from the benefice was sequestrated because the rector Nicholas Salisbury was non-resident. Salisbury claimed that he was licensed to be absent but in 1394 resigned on an exchange. (fn. 252) John Wykeham, a relative of his patron, was presented in 1395 before he had taken subdeacon's orders. (fn. 253) James Blakedon, bishop of Achonry and suffragan in Salisbury and Bath and Wells dioceses, was presented in 1447. (fn. 254) John Terry, rector 1590–1625, was the author of antiRoman tracts. (fn. 255) His successor was a pluralist, Christopher Green, who was assisted by a curate in 1631 and 1641. (fn. 256) Green was expelled and Samuel Wright was admitted in 1646. (fn. 257) Wright, who subscribed to the Concurrent Testimony of 1648, in 1650 preached twice on Sundays and expounded once a week. (fn. 258) In 1662 it was said that much had been done to restore the Anglican order. (fn. 259) Edward Innes, rector 1772–89, was rector of Devizes and lived there. (fn. 260) In 1783 his curate, who was probably also curate of Codford St. Mary and Fisherton de la Mere, held services twice on Sundays and celebrated Holy Communion four times a year. He catechized children in Lent and expounded scripture to them. (fn. 261) On Census Sunday in 1851 services were attended by congregations of 60 in the morning and 100 in the afternoon. (fn. 262) In 1864 there were still two Sunday services and communion was administered to 35–40 communicants some six times in the year. (fn. 263) A surpliced choir was formed by Robert White Fiske, rector from 1883. (fn. 264) In 1901 Holy Communion was celebrated every Sunday and twice at the great festivals and on the first Sunday in every month, there were three other Sunday services including a children's service at which there was catechizing, and there were daily services. (fn. 265)

The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, so called in 1560, (fn. 266) is built of ashlar and has a chancel with north vestry, aisled and clerestoried nave with north porch, and west tower. The two-bay nave arcades are of the late 12th century. The tower and the west window of the north aisle were built in the early 13th century, perhaps in the last stage in the same phase of construction as the arcades. The chancel was apparently enlarged in the 13th century and nothing in it seems to be older than that. In the earlier 14th century both aisles appear to have been widened and the south aisle was rebuilt. The division between the nave and chancel was apparently moved several feet eastwards. An arched opening was then made through the wall east of the arcade and rather later a similar opening was made to the north aisle. The upper stage of the tower was possibly reconstructed about the same time. The clerestory and the porch were added in the 15th century and the wall between chancel and nave, which formerly had brackets for a rood beam on its west face, (fn. 267) was possibly built about the same time. The east end of the north aisle appears to have been partly rebuilt in the 17th century when the large Topp monument was placed there. The roof of the south aisle is of 1662–4, that of the nave, reconstructed in 1757, (fn. 268) was essentially of the 15th century until renewed in 1958. (fn. 269) The chancel was partly rebuilt in 1840, the eastern end of the north aisle was again rebuilt in 1842 when a vaulted ceiling was removed, (fn. 270) and the south aisle was restored in 1844. (fn. 271) In 1879 there was a general restoration to designs of Edmund and E. B. Ferrey. (fn. 272) The west gallery, which had existed in 1730, (fn. 273) was removed and the vestry built. In 1910 an elaborate oak rood-screen, designed by Bodley and Garner, was erected by Bishop Yeatman-Biggs. (fn. 274)

There were three bells in 1553. (fn. 275) In 1660 they were cast into four by John Lott of Warminster. Bell (iii) was recast by the younger John Lott in 1683, (fn. 276) and the tenor was later replaced by a bell founded at Salisbury in the period 1380–1420. (fn. 277) Those four bells were still hanging in the church in 1978. (fn. 278)

In 1553 2 oz. of plate were taken for the king and a chalice of 8 oz. left. Two flagons, one hall-marked 1634, were given in 1640 by John Topp (d. 1640) who devised £20 to ornament the communion table. A new chalice and paten hall-marked 1681 were given by another John Topp, presumably either him who died in 1675 or him who died in 1745. In 1843 the rector Roger Frampton St. Barbe gave an alms-dish and c. 1890 there was also an old pewter alms-basin. (fn. 279) The church retains the Topp donations. (fn. 280)

The registers date from 1589. (fn. 281) The earliest entries are transcriptions made by the schoolmaster Thomas Crockford who was vicar of Fisherton de la Mere from 1613, and until the late 1620s kept Stockton registers as elaborately as he did those of Fisherton and Wylye. (fn. 282)

Nonconformity.

A parishioner said in 1674 to have been excommunicated for refusing to attend church had presumably conformed or left the parish by 1676 when there was said to be no nonconformist. (fn. 283) In the later 18th century and the early 19th there were a few dissenters, and in 1812 a house was licensed for meetings. (fn. 284) There was a small school for dissenters' children in 1859 and there were three families of Independents in 1864, (fn. 285) but no nonconformist chapel has been built in the parish.

Education.

A concern for education perhaps unusual for the period manifested itself in 1387 and 1391 when bondmen were amerced for keeping their sons at school, probably in Salisbury, (fn. 286) and in 1410 when a John Schoolmaster, apparently of Stockton, was mentioned. (fn. 287) A school was held in the early 17th century by that scholarly Latinist Thomas Crockford, vicar of Fisherton de la Mere from 1613. Crockford claimed to have held the school for 14 years from 1602 and to have lived for 5 or 6 of those years with the rector. (fn. 288) No later schoolmaster is known.

In 1808 there were three schools each for some eight young children. (fn. 289) In 1818 there were two schools and the number of children being educated had risen to 34. (fn. 290) In 1833 the education of more than half the children was paid for by the wives of the rector and the lord of the manor. (fn. 291) In 1859 a mistress taught 25–30 children in two rooms of a cottage, a school thought to be a good example of its type. The second school was then for some ten children of dissenters. (fn. 292) In 1861 and 1862 a shop and 17th-century cottage near the church were converted to a school and school-house. (fn. 293) Boys were taught until they were eight or nine, girls until they were ten, and there was a well attended winter evening-school for boys. (fn. 294) The average attendance at school in 1900–1 was 59. (fn. 295) It was 62 in 1906 but thereafter declined gradually to 18 in 1938. (fn. 296) The school was closed in 1971. (fn. 297)

Charities for the Poor.

By will John Topp (d. 1640) gave £1,000 for charitable use in Wiltshire or Oxford University to benefit the poor, preference being given to his kinsmen and afterwards to Wiltshiremen and especially to those of Stockton and Codford St. Mary. (fn. 298) In 1641 Topp's trustees decided to build an alms-house in Stockton and in 1648 declared the trusts of the charity and bought land. (fn. 299) The precise dates at which the house was built and opened are not clear but, the decision to build having been taken, it seems unlikely that the capital would have been used to buy land before the building was erected, and likely that in the period 1641–8 the trustees built the house and prepared to purchase the land to endow it. The deed of constitution was enrolled in 1658. (fn. 300) Stockton almshouse was presumably occupied by then. It stands south of the street and west of the church on land given by John Topp (d. 1660) and Edward Topp (d. 1665), (fn. 301) and was built round three sides of an enclosed courtyard to house six alms-people in separate pairs of rooms. Its accommodation was increased to eight by the addition of north and south wings in 1714. (fn. 302)

The trustees became the board of governors, one of whom was to be warden and to receive the charity's income. (fn. 303) In 1668 the office of warden was replaced by that of a salaried steward. Apparently in the early 19th century the steward's duties were restricted to the management of the house and a receiver was appointed. Apart from the alms-house and its orchard the charity's endowment was Spearywell farm in Mottisfont (Hants), 154 a. in 1831, and a yearly rent-charge of £4 from a close in Stockton given in 1658 by John Topp (d. 1660) to pay the steward. The annual rent from the farm was £45 in 1674, (fn. 304) £55 in 1779, £120 in 1831. Accumulated income was invested in stock which in 1833 amounted to £1,150 yielding annually £34 10s. The stock was then reduced by £350 to pay for repairs, and in 1849 Spearywell farm was sold and Green farm in Upton Scudamore bought. Green farm, 68 a., was later found to be encumbered with a mortgage of a previous owner. Partly because of the proceedings in Chancery which that discovery led to and partly because of the need to repair, the charity's income became insufficient in the mid 19th century. In 1877 it was proposed to sell the farm. There was a campaign to prevent that and only the farm-house and 4 a. were sold. (fn. 305) The proceeds of the sale were invested, and in 1902 the income from the farm was £60 and from the investments £34. The farm was later sold and the proceeds invested. (fn. 306)

In 1668 the governors framed articles for the management of the house. (fn. 307) The founder's preferences in the choice of inmates were observed. There is no evidence that a kinsman was housed and at least in the late 17th century and the early 18th beneficiaries were drawn from beyond Stockton and Codford. (fn. 308) Benefit was limited to those aged over 60 or impotent who were unmarried, respectable, and poor. The six inmates, eight from 1714, were each given fuel, a cloak each year, and a weekly allowance. They shared equally the orchard or the income from it. The allowance gradually increased from 2s. c. 1668 to 4s. 6d. in 1833 when allowances, fuel, and cloaks totalled some £135 a year. A resident nurse was also employed then. (fn. 309)

In the 19th century the need to spend proportionately more on the alms-house and less on its inmates is exemplified by the expensive repairs made in 1833, the later closing of two of the dwellings to save money, and the raising of new funds. (fn. 310) By a deed of 1896 Marguerite Augusta Dodd of Stockton House gave £1,300, yielding £41 a year, raised by herself and her friends to increase the endowment. New articles broadly similar to those of 1668, but including provision for a resident nurse, were made in 1897. In 1900 the charity's income was £145 of which some £112 was spent on the residents' subsistence, (fn. 311) and by will proved 1921 and under a Scheme of that year Emilie Gay gave £750 to increase the allowances. (fn. 312) In the mid 20th century, however, the failure of the charity's income to match the rising cost of repairs and the lessening need to support the inmates have caused the governors to concentrate more on providing housing than subsistence. In 1960 income was £280 of which £135 was given to the inmates. By a Scheme of 1977, however, special funds were established for routine maintenance and extraordinary repairs and were to receive £720 a year. Allowances were discontinued and the trustees were enabled to demand from the alms-people weekly contributions of £5 towards running costs and further contributions towards fuel. Marriage no longer disqualified. (fn. 313)

By their wills proved 1910 and 1921 John Thomas Gay and Emilie Gay founded nursing charities consolidated by a Scheme of 1922 into Gays' Nursing Charity. The capital of respectively £444 and £511 was invested for the nursing needs first of Stockton and afterwards of the area served by the Wylye Valley Nursing Association. By a Scheme of 1950 the income was assigned to the special needs of the sick in those areas, including the supply of special medicines, domestic help, and money for convalescence. The income was £24 in 1962. (fn. 314) In 1978 the charity was still managed under the terms of the 1950 Scheme. (fn. 315)