OUR HISTORY

Stoulton’ is the name of a village and a parish in south east Worcestershire, England.

STOULTON PARISH. On this website all references to just ‘Stoulton’ will refer to the area enclosed by today’s parish boundary. (recognising that the farmstead known as 'Cocks Holme,' now in Norton civil parish, was once a part of Stoulton).  

STOULTON VILLAGE. For many the word ‘Stoulton’ is refers to the village,  'Stoulton village’ is how it will be referred to on this web site. Stoulton village is a small hilltop settlement, it was probably an early defensive site. When seen from above the village settlement sits within an ancient circle.

WOLVERTON. Divided was into Great and Little Wolverton by Bishop Oswald in 987 they are no more than hamlets today. A plan of the Stoulton Estate of 1634 shows the settlement of Great Wolverton to be at least as big as the Stoulton village of that day. Just why its fortunes declined is one of the mysteries yet to be fully explained. 

MUCKNELL. The administration of the Saxon farmstead that once belonged to a 'Mucca' was absorbed into the administration of the manor of Stoulton quite early in post conquest history.  Today the old Mucknell farmhouse has been transformed into a Benedictine monastery, home to community of Anglican Benedictine monks and nuns.

A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE!

The high water table, productive arable farmland, and long views over river valleys to settlements on Bredon Hill and the Malvern Hills, have made this parish and its settlements a good place to live for centuries. Archaeological finds go back to the Bronze Age and there is considerable evidence of Iron Age and Roman activity, but this story begins with the coming of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon times. It was then that records began for three early farmsteads, Mucknell, Stoulton and Wolverton and they continue until the present day ( April 2022).  The population recorded for the parish in 2011 was 435 adults and 90 children in 176 household units.  Follow the story on the Stoulton Timeline.