top of page

Stoke St Gregory

    The name Stoke St Gregory is relatively modern, dating from the consecration of the parish church. Before that it had been known as Gregorystoke, but the official title of the manor (part of the hundred of North Curry) was East Curry. Many suggestions have been made regarding the origin of the name Curry, with previous forms including Curig, Curi and Cory. However, a look at the map surrounding West Sedgemoor may well provide the most logical explanation. Curry Mallet and Curry Rivel take their additions from Norman times. Before that we have the older part of Curry on the southern edge of West Sedgemoor, ending in Curry Woods, near Wick. To the north we have the later settlement of North Curry, and presumably later still that of East Curry (Stoke). The name Curry itself may come from a celtic word, crwy, meaning boundary, but it could well be a pre-celtic name for the land surrounding what would then have been an arm of the sea.

The Hamlets

    Until Victorian times Stoke was a parish of scattered hamlets, with a few dwellings clustered round the parish church. These included:

    Huntham - the homestead of a Saxon Called Hunta

    Woodhill - a settlement that grew up on the edge of the common

    Curload - a ribbon development along the south bank of the River Tone

    Meare Green - probably named after the saxon word maere meaning ploughland

    Churley - meaning a woodland clearing occupied by the ceorls, who were freemen but not landowners

    Stathe - a hamlet at the end of the sandstone ridge around the main landing stage on this stretch of the River Parrett

Parish Names

BACK to PARISH

Farms & Houses

    Farmhouse names are mostly denoted by their location (Slough, Woodhill, Huntham, Churley, Meare Green, Frog Lane, Curload) or by a previous owner (Watts, Willment, Dares, Cuppins, Walker, Hancox, Sturts, Dykes - formerly Dight). The four examples on the right are some of those listed in the village.

    According to a recent (2018) report, The Cottage, Rose Cottage, The Bungalow and The Coach House are the four most popular house names in Britain. We have all these, but today, some of the house names reflect a time when there was more commercial and other activity in the village - The Old Stores, The Old Vicarage, The Old Barbers - whereas other, despite being given new names, are still known by the family names of former residents.

Slough Court

Crossways Farm

Dykes Farm

Frog Lane Farm

bottom of page