Stoke Poges

Stoke Poges is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, about three miles north of Slough and a mile east of Farnham Common.

The name "Stoke Poges": Stoke means a stockaded place. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as Stoche. The affix 'Poges' came later, and refers to the family that owned the manor in the 13th century. Thus William Fitz-Ansculf, who held the Manor in 1086 (in the grounds of which the Norman Church was built), became known as William Stoches or William of Stoke. Two hundred years after William, Amicia of Stoke, heiress of the then occupant of the Manor, married Robert Pogeys, who was Knight of the Shire. Thus the name was given to Stoke Poges.

The manor house in Stoke Poges was once very substantial, and Queen Elizabeth I was entertained here in 1601. A few decades later the lady of the manor, Lady Purbeck, had a love affair with the Member of Parliament Robert Howard. The affair's discovery caused a national scandal and in 1635 she was imprisoned for adultery. She escaped from prison to France, later returning to Stoke Poges where she died in 1645.

King Charles I was imprisoned at the manor house in 1647 before his execution. Later the manor came into the possession of William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania, and remained in his family for at least two generations.

Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is believed to have been written in the churchyard of the Church of England parish church of Saint Giles in Stoke Poges, although there are other local claimants, including the theory by Rev. H. Cavalier that the Elegy was actually written in the Churchyard of Everdon, Northamptonshire, based on observations comparing the two churchyards and the lines in the poem.

Gray is buried at St Giles and there is a large monument displaying the Elegy nearby, built by John Penn, William Penn's grandson.

Immediately outside the south entrance of the church is the white tomb of Jemima Harington, wife of Captain Tomas Talbot Harington of Seaforth Cape of Good Hope.

Stoke Poges is also mentioned in 20th century literature, in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, where it is the location of a frequently-visited golf course. The golf course at Stoke Park Club (formerly Stoke Poges Golf Club) also appeared in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, during a crucial golf match played between the principal characters. Stoke Park Club also featured in the films Layer Cake, Wimbledon, Bride and Prejudice, and Bridget Jones' Diary. The 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only filmed its opening sequence, when Bond visits his wife's grave, in the graveyard outside St Giles Church. Part of the 2007 series Jekyll was also filmed on the boardwalk and surrounding area. In the 1963 film I Could Go On Singing, Judy Garland's character visits St. Giles' parish church with her son.

The French Formula One racing driver Jacques Laffite, who won six Grands Prix for Ligier during the late 1970s and early 1980s, lived in Stoke Poges during some of his racing career.

Demography

As of the 2001 UK census, the Stoke Poges electoral ward had a population of 4,839. The ethnicity was 93.3% white, 1.3% mixed race, 4.8% Asian, 0.3% black and 0.3% other. The place of birth of residents was 88.1% United Kingdom, 1.6% Republic of Ireland, 2.5% other Western European countries, and 7.8% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 76.5% Christian, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.7% Hindu, 2.7% Sikh, 0.5% Jewish, and 1.1% Muslim. 10.6% were recorded as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 7.6% did not state their religion.

The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 40.8% in full-time employment, 11.6% in part-time employment, 12.6% self-employed, 1.8% unemployed, 1.5% students with jobs, 3.1% students without jobs, 16.8% retired, 6.7% looking after home or family, 2.5% permanently sick or disabled and 2.5% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 15.4% retail, 13.4% manufacturing, 6.9% construction, 21.1% real estate, 9.2% health and social work, 7.3% education, 8.8% transport and communications, 3.5% public administration, 3.4% hotels and restaurants, 2.8% finance, 0.8% agriculture and 7.4% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in real estate, transport and communications. According to Office for National Statistics estimates, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households was £870, compared with an average of £660 in South East England. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 28.4% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.