LAND & LAND USE

 In 1913 Stoulton parish covered an area of 1,959 acres of land on which wheat, beans, barley and turnips were grown. 961 acres were permanent grass and there was 16 acres of woodland.  The soil today is still chiefly clay, gravel and sand, and the subsoil Lower Lias.  The ground undulates and varies in height from 79 ft. in the south-east near Stonebow Bridge to about 200 ft. on the borders of White Ladies Aston in the north.

  In 2022 the fields are still productive but farming practices have change, very few people work the land today. Visitors to the parish will see ancient farmhouses and barns but most are now private homes.  The land is owned by distant land owners and the work is mostly contracted out.

 Every year big machines visit the fields around Stoulton village - according to the season they prepare the soil, plant the seed, weed and fertilise until all is ripe for harvest. Then the heavy mob, the combine harvesters arrive and those in charge think nothing of working through the night to bring in the harvest - who knows where it goes?

 The future.  The plans are for a new town to be built, centred around the new Parkway railway station in Norton parish. The town centre will cover the fields leading up to Mucknell Abbey in the place once known as Muckenhill.  Fields in Stoulton Parish will disappear, will the ancient place names go as well?