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Chew Stoke is a small village and civil parish in the affluent Chew Valley, in Somerset, England, about south of Bristol and 10 miles north of Wells. It is at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, a region designated by the United Kingdom as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is within the Bristol and Bath green belt. The parish includes the hamlet of Breach Hill, which is approximately southwest of Chew Stoke itself.
Chew Stoke has a long history, as shown by the number and range of its listed buildings buildings. The village is at the northern end of Chew Valley Lake, which was created in the 1950s, close to a dam, pumping station, sailing club, and fishing lodge. A tributary of the River Chew, which rises in Strode, runs through the village.
The population of 1,038 is served by one shop, one working public house, a primary school and a Bowls. Together with Chew Magna, it forms the ward of Chew Valley North in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. Chew Valley School and its associated leisure centre are less than a mile (1.6 km) from Chew Stoke. The village has some areas of light industry but is largely agricultural; many residents commute to nearby cities for employment.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Chew Stoke was listed as Chiwestoche, and was recorded as belonging to Gilbert fitz Turold. He conspired with Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy, against King William Rufus, and subsequently all his lands were seized. The next recorded owner was Lord Beauchamp of Hache. He became "lord of the manor" when the earls of Gloucester, with hereditary rights to Chew Stoke, surrendered them to him. According to Stephen Robinson, the author of Somerset Place Names, the village was then known as Chew Millitus, suggesting that it may have had some military potential. The name "Stoke", from the old English stoc, meaning a stockade, may support that idea.
The parish was part of the hundred of Chew.
On 4 February 2001, Princess Anne opened the Rural Housing Trust development at Salway Close. Each year, over a weekend in September (usually the first), a "Harvest Home" is held with horse and pet shows, bands, a funfair, and other entertainments. The Harvest Home was cancelled in 1997 as a mark of respect following the death of Princess Diana in the previous week. The Radford's factory site, where refrigeration equipment was formerly manufactured, was identified as a Brownfield land suitable for residential development in the 2002 Draft Local Plan of Bath and North East Somerset. That plan has generated controversy about balancing land use to meet residential, social, and employment needs.
During November 2012 a series of floods affected many parts of Britain. On 22 November a man died after his car was washed down a flooded brook in Chew Stoke and trapped against a small bridge.
The village is part of the ward of Chew Valley in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset, which has the wider responsibility for providing services such as education, refuse collection, and tourism. The ward is currently represented by Anna Box and David Harding, members of the Liberal Democrats. It is also part of the North East Somerset and Hanham, and was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to Brexit in January 2020.
The police service is provided by Avon and Somerset Constabulary with two Community Support Officer and one police officer covering the wider Chew Valley area. The Avon Fire and Rescue Service have a fire station at Chew Magna.
Chew Stoke is approximately south of Bristol, north of Wells, west of Bath, east of Weston-super-Mare, and southwest of Keynsham. It is south of Chew Magna on the B3130 road that joins the A37 and A38. The A368 crosses the valley west of the lake. The "Chew Valley Explorer" bus route 672/674, running from Bristol Bus Station to Cheddar, provides public transport access. This service is operated by CT coaches and Eurotaxis and subsidised by Bath and North East Somerset council. In 2002, a cycle route, the Chew Lake West Green Route, was opened around the western part of the lake from Chew Stoke. It forms part of the Padstow to Bristol West Country Way, National Cycle Network Route 3. It has all-weather surfacing, providing a smooth off-road facility for ramblers, mobility-challenged visitors, and cyclists of all abilities. Funding was provided by Bath and North East Somerset Council, with the support of Sustrans and the Chew Valley Recreational Trail Association. The minor roads around the lake are also frequently used by cyclists. Bristol Airport is approximately away, and the nearest train stations are Keynsham, Bath Spa, and Bristol Temple Meads.
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In the church are bronze plaques commemorating the eleven local people who died in World War I and the six who were killed in World War II. There is also a stained glass window showing a saint with a sword standing on a snake, and crossed flags commemorating those from World War II. There is also a memorial plaque to the local Bilbie family of bell founders and clockmakers inside the church, and just inside the porch, on the left of the church door, is a stone figure holding an anchor, which was moved to the church from Walley Court with the flooding of the lake. There is an unconfirmed story that this was given to the Gilbert family, then living at the court, by Queen Elizabeth I. (1982). 9780709195856, Robert Hale Ltd. ISBN 9780709195856
An obelisk on Breach Hill Lane, dating from the early-to-mid-19th century, is said to have been built as a waterworks marker. It has a square limestone plinth about high. The obelisk is about high with a pyramidal top and small opening at the top on two sides.
The importance of farming is reflected in the age of many of the farmhouses. Manor Farm, on Scot Lane (not to be confused with at least two other Manor Farms in the locality) is thought to date from 1495 and, as such, is probably the oldest building in the village. Presently (2007) occupied by Mr and Mrs Slater; the building has recently (2002) undergone a sympathetic extension to incorporate an old semi-derelict barn onto the main house for use as a garage and workshop. Mr Slater, a Chartered Engineer, is interested in bringing the art of clock making back to the village. Rookery Farmhouse, in Breach Hill Lane, is dated at 1720, with later 18th century additions to either side of the central rear wing. An attached stable, northeast of the farmhouse, is also a Grade II listed building. School Farmhouse, in School Lane, dates from the late 17th century and has a studded oak door in the side of the house. Wallis Farmhouse, farther along School Lane, is dated at 1782. Yew Tree Farmhouse, one of the oldest buildings in the area, is a cruck built farmhouse of which there are very few in North Somerset. It was included in the dendrochronology project carried out by the Somerset Vernacular Building Research Group 1996–1998 and the crucks gave a felling date of 1386, the house has been extensively altered and added to over later centuries. North Hill Farmhouse also has 15th century origins. Paganshill Farmhouse dates from the 17th century. Fairseat Farmhouse is from the 18th century and includes a plaque recording that John Wesley preached at the house on 10 September 1790. In August of that year, Fairseat Farmhouse was "registered among the records of this County as a House set apart for the worship of God and religious exercise for Protestant Dissenters." At that time the house belonged to Anna Maria Griffon. In the garden is a large Quercus ilex ( Ilex) which measured across until half of it broke away in a gale in 1976.
The Methodism Chapel was built in 1815/16 after religious services had been established at Fairseat Farm, and the chapel was rebuilt in the late 19th century with limestone walls with stone dressings and a slate Hip roof with brick eaves stacks and crestings.
In the hamlet of Stoke Villice, which is south of the main village, there is a 19th-century milestone inscribed "8 miles to Bristol" that also has listed status.
The school was founded as a charity in 1718 making it one of the oldest schools in Somerset. Its original buildings were demolished in 1858 and replaced with new ones to designs by S.B. Gabriel that are now Grade II listed. The school bell was donated by the Bilbie family of Bellfounding based in the village. Additional classrooms were built in 1926, and further alterations and extensions were built in 1970, 1995 and 2001.
In July 2018, the school celebrated its 300th birthday making it one of the oldest state schools in England. A service was held at St Andrew's Church led by the Bishop of Taunton – Ruth Worsley, and was followed by a tea party at the school, and the planting of a time capsule.
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