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{{Short description|Village in Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Stapleford
| static_image_name = Thatched Cottage, Stapleford - geograph.org.uk - 948855.jpg
| static_image_caption = Cottages in Stapleford, church in left background
| coordinates = {{coord|51.136|-1.902|type:city(200)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference = SU070374
| label_position = left
| population = 264
| population_ref = (in 2011)<ref name=census>{{cite web|title=Wiltshire Community History – Census|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=209|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=9 May 2015}}</ref>
| civil_parish = Stapleford
| unitary_england = [[Wiltshire Council|Wiltshire]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Wiltshire]]
| region = South West England
| country = England
| post_town = Salisbury
| postcode_district = SP3
| postcode_area = SP
| dial_code = 01722
| constituency_westminster = [[East Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)|East Wiltshire]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.staplefordwiltspc.org.uk/|Parish Council}}
}}

'''Stapleford''' is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] about {{convert|4|mi|km}} north of [[Wilton, Wiltshire]], England. The village is on the [[River Till, Wiltshire|River Till]], just above its confluence with the [[River Wylye]].

The village is on the B3083 road, which joins the [[A36 road|A36]] at the southern end of the village. The parish includes the hamlet of '''Serrington''', on the A36 {{convert|0.25|mi|m}} west of the B3083 junction.

== History ==
The [[Domesday Book|Domesday]] survey of 1086 recorded an estate held by Swein at Stapleford, with 28 households.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|SU0737|stapleford|Stapleford}}</ref> The manor passed to the [[Henry Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey|Hussey]] family; in part, from the late 14th century the [[William Esturmy|Sturmy]] family and then the [[John Seymour (died 1464)|Seymours]], including [[John Seymour (1474–1536)]], father of [[Jane Seymour]], Henry VIII's third wife. Land remained in Seymour ownership until the 1940s. Other land passed to the [[John Giffard, 1st Baron Giffard|Giffards]] in the 14th century, and through the Mautravers, in 1405 to the [[John Fitzalan, 6th Earl of Arundel|Earls of Arundel]], then from 1580 various owners including [[Sir Richard Howe, 2nd Baronet]], the [[Baron Chedworth|Barons Chedworth]] and (from 1808 until c. 1896) the [[Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton|Barons Ashburton]].<ref name=vch />

By the Till to the north are the earthwork remains of Stapleford Castle, a medieval [[ringwork]] and bailey castle.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1005686|desc=Stapleford Castle|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> Until at least the 1890s,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/209|title=Stapleford|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=8 March 2020}}</ref> two more settlement names were shown on maps of the parish. Over Street, on the opposite bank from Stapleford, is now considered part of the village; Uppington, on the east bank to the north, now has only a small number of houses.<ref name="vch" />

The parish population peaked in the 19th century, with 337 recorded at the 1831 census; from 1861 to 2011, census returns have not exceeded 300.<ref name=census />

== Parish church ==

[[File:St Mary's Church, Stapleford - geograph.org.uk - 333475.jpg|thumb|St Mary's Church]]
There was a church at Stapleford in the early 12th century, belonging to [[Salisbury Cathedral]].<ref name="vch">{{Cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol15/pp252-263 |series=[[Victoria County History]] |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 15 |chapter=Parishes: Stapleford |pages=252–263 |editor-first=D. A. |editor-last=Crowley |author-first1=A. P. |author-last1=Baggs |author-first2=Jane |author-last2=Freeman |author-first3=Janet H. |author-last3=Stevenson |date=1995 |via=British History Online |publisher=University of London |access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref> The [[Church of England parish church|parish church]] of St Mary is built in [[Ashlar|chalk ashlar]] and flint, and 12th-century work is found in the north and west walls of the nave, the south arcade, and the west wall of the aisle. The [[chancel]] was rebuilt in the 13th century and the north tower was added c. 1300. There is a 13th-century north chapel and 14th-century south chapel. The [[clerestory]] was inserted in the 15th century, and the upper stage of the tower rebuilt in 1674.

Two of the six bells in the tower were cast in 1655.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?DoveID=STAPLEFRDW|title=Stapleford, St Mary|website=Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers|access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref> [[Victorian restoration|Restoration]] in 1861 by [[William Slater (architect)|William Slater]] included partial rebuilding of the nave; stained glass by [[Clayton and Bell]] was installed in the tower in 1862. The chancel was restored in 1869.<ref name="corpus">{{cite web|title=St Mary, Stapleford, Wiltshire|website=Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture|publisher=King's College London|url=https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?key=WXsiUCI6eyJUZXJtcyI6InN0YXBsZWZvcmQifSwiRiI6ImV5SjBJanBiTmwxOSJ9&pg=2&WINID=1583502985591#NH1_yvSOLPMAAAFwsCIC9Q/7315|access-date=6 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="chlisting">{{National Heritage List for England|num=1146222|desc=Church of St. Mary|access-date= 6 March 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

The church was recorded as [[Grade I listed]] in 1960.<ref name=chlisting /> [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] writes: "The Norman contributions make the church memorable, especially the tremendous round piers of the south arcade. They are nearly 3ft in diameter." The stone font is also 12th-century, though on a later base.<ref name=corpus /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |authorlink1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |authorlink2=Bridget Cherry |year=1975 |origyear=1963 |title=Wiltshire |series=[[The Buildings of England]] |edition=2nd |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-0710-26-4 |pages=479–480}}</ref>

The benefice was united with that of [[Berwick St James]] in 1924,<ref>{{London Gazette
| issue = 33000
| date = 9 December 1924
| pages = 8972-8973
}}</ref> and in 1992<ref name="vch" /> the parish became part of the Lower Wylye and Till Valley benefice, which today covers eight rural churches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://twovalleys.org/|title=Two Valleys|last=|first=|date=|website=Wylye and Till Valley Benefice|language=en-GB|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/9603/more-information/|title=Stapleford: St Mary|last=|first=|date=|website=A Church Near You|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-07}}</ref>

==Amenities==
There is a village hall<ref>{{cite web|title=Stapleford Village Hall|url=http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=276080&SubsidiaryNumber=0|publisher=The Charity Commission|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> and a pub/restaurant, the Pelican Inn on the [[A36 road|A36]] at Serrington.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepelicanpubsalisbury.co.uk/|title=The Pelican Inn|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-08}}</ref> The [[Monarch's Way]] long-distance footpath crosses Chain Hill, east of the village.

==Notable people==
[[Henry Bennett (rose hybridizer)|Henry Bennett]] pioneered rose hybridisation at Manor Farm, Stapleford<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yPI9AQAAMAAJ|title=Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist|date=4 May 1878|publisher=Haymarket Publishing|page=552}}</ref> between 1865 and 1880.

[[Harold Ridley (ophthalmologist)|Harold Ridley]] (1906–2001), eye surgeon and inventor of the plastic lens to treat [[cataract|cataracts]], lived in the village later in life.<ref>{{cite book|author=David J. Apple|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMVSVumHzHUC|title=Sir Harold Ridley and His Fight for Sight: He Changed the World So that We May Better See it|publisher=SLACK Incorporated|year=2006|isbn=978-1-55642-786-2|page=59|authorlink=David J. Apple}}</ref>

The artist [[Leslie Gibson (artist)|Leslie Gibson]] lived and worked at Stapleford from 1950 until his death in 1969.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Russell Taylor|first=John|url=https://archive.org/stream/NewsUK1993UKEnglish/Jan%2029%201993%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2364554%2C%20UK%20%28en%29#page/n26/mode/1up/|title=Critic's Choice: Galleries|date=29 January 1993|work=The Times|access-date=5 March 2020|page=27|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

[[Peter Chalke]] (born 1944), a Conservative politician, retired to live in Stapleford.<ref>
"Former councillors who first met at a village barbecue celebrate Golden Wedding" , ''[[Salisbury Journal]]'', 17 August 2016, accessed 5 June 2021</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.staplefordwiltspc.org.uk/ Stapleford Parish Council]

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire]]

Stapleford, Wiltshire - Revision history

imported>Keith D: Change {{EngvarB}} to {{use British English}}