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Summary

Predominantly an estate village with many properties erected by the Suttons at the beginning of the 20th century, but also with some earlier buildings

Monument Type(s):

• HAMLET (18th - 19th century - 1701 AD to 1900 AD)
• ESTATE VILLAGE (Late 19th century to Early 21st century - 1880 AD? to 2050 AD)

Full Description

The early 18th century map of Speen Manor <1> shows Stockcross as a small group of about six houses each within their own plots, on the south side of Wickham Heath. The same line of smallholdings are depicted on the Ordnance Survey Drawing <14> but not named. The church in Stockcross was built in 1839.

The First Edition Ordnance Survey mapping <12> shows a large number of small cottages, terraced or semi-detached, in rectangular plots within the area bounded by Ermin Street, Glebe Lane and Church Road. A sweeping change was effected by the time of the Third Epoch OS of 1911-12 <13> with larger fewer cottages replacing these rows, and new pairs of semi-detached houses being laid out on the north side of Ermin Street.

The village contains much early 20th century estate housing <6>. Murray's guide notes it as a 'model brick half-timber-style village with shop to match, built about 1900 and later'. The Revised Pevsner Guide also mentions the good estate housing on the main road (Ermin Street) put up by the Suttons in c1900: 'Two very pretty thatched rows with long front gardens on the north side. Opposite, more of similar date, with exposed timberwork and tile roofs, and the village shop with a timber porch' <8>. The Sutton Estate owned much land and property in and around Stockcross; the principal dwelling of the baronets was nearby Benham Park from the 1860s until 1982 <15>.

A history of the parish compiled by the vicar in the 1980s <7> considered that the name Stockcross probably derived from the fact that a stock market was regularly held at a crossroads near the Sportsman's Hall and Rookwood. The village name was always spelt as two separate words in mid 19th century entries in church registers.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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