Water Stratford
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK place
Water Stratford is a village and civil parish on the River Great Ouse in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about Template:Convert west of Buckingham, near the boundary with Oxfordshire.
Manor
The toponym "Stratford" is common in England, being derived from the Old English for "ford by a Roman road".Template:Citation needed The Roman road is still traceable through the village. The prefix "Water" was added to differentiate the village from other places called Stratford. The name has evolved through the centuries from Stradford in the Domesday Book of 1086, through Stratforwe, Straford and Westratforde in the 13th to 15th centuries.<ref name=Page>Template:Harvnb</ref>
The earliest known record of Water Stratford is from the time of Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–66).<ref name=Page/> After the Norman conquest of England Water Stratford was one of many manors in the region that William of Normandy granted to Robert D'Oyly,<ref name=Page/> who built Oxford Castle. The Domesday Book of 1086 assessed Water Stratford's cultivated land at eight hides.<ref name=Page/> Water Stratford remained in the D'Oyly family until the 13th century, when it passed from Henry D'Oyly to his nephew Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick.<ref name=Page/> The Earl died heirless, leaving his sister Margaret, by whose marriage Water Stratford then passed to the du Plessis family.<ref name=Page/> Late in the 13th century Hugh du Plessis seems to have granted Water Stratford to Edward I in an exchange of lands.<ref name=Page/> The manor was then the property of successive Princes of Wales until the English Civil War in the middle of the 17th century. No record of the feudal overlordship is known from after 1650.<ref name=Page/>
The present manor house bears a date stone inscribed with the year 1598.<ref name=EH-manor>Template:NHLE</ref> The upper flight of the staircase has early 17th century pierced balusters.<ref name=EH-manor/> Other details were added to the house in the 20th century.<ref name=EH-manor/>
The Domesday Book records that by 1086 Water Stratford had a watermill, presumably on the River Great Ouse.<ref name=Page/> It is recorded again in 1278–79, but it was destroyed in 1349 by Isabel de Stratford, widow of a Lord of the Manor of Water Stratford.<ref name=Page/>
Parish church
The Church of England parish church of Saint Giles<ref>The Church of St Giles, Water Stratford</ref> was built in the 12th century.<ref name=Page/> The south doorway is Norman and has a finely carved tympanum of Christ in Majesty.Template:Sfn The chancel arch and one lancet window on either side in the chancel are 13th century.<ref name=Page/> The tower was built in the 14th century<ref name=Page/> and some Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic windows were added over the centuries.Template:Sfn The tower was reduced in height in the 18th century.<ref name=Page/> The church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1828,<ref name=Page/>Template:Sfn but unusually for that period its original features were preserved and replaced apparently in situ.Template:Sfn The tower has three bells.<ref name=Page/> St. Giles' is a Grade I listed building.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
Notable people
John Mason (1645–94) was parish priest of St. Giles.<ref name=Page/> He was a Puritan, admired by fellow-clergy including Richard Baxter.<ref name=StGiles>Template:Cite web</ref> Mason wrote more than 30 hymns,<ref name=StGiles/> including the still popular Anglican hymn How shall I sing that majesty.Template:Sfn
In the last years of his life Mason's mental health deteriorated.<ref name=StGiles/> From 1690 he preached that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent.<ref name=StGiles/> He claimed he was the prophet Elijah and that he would be raised from the dead three days after his death.<ref name=Page/> From 1693 hundreds of followers flocked to Water Stratford, where they lived in barns or camped in a field awaiting the Second Coming.<ref name=StGiles/> Mason died on 22 May 1694. His followers' belief was so strong that his successor as parish priest had Mason's corpse exhumed to disprove his claim of resurrection.<ref name=Page/><ref name=StGiles/> Still some of Mason's followers refused to leave, and stayed at Water Stratford awaiting his resurrection for up to 15 years when they were dispersed by the local militia.<ref name=StGiles/>
Joseph Bosworth (1788–1876), scholar of Old English, author of the first Anglo-Saxon dictionary, and Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford from 1858 to 1876, was parish priest of St. Giles from 1858.<ref name=Page/>
More recent former residents are Paul Daniels, magician, Peter Woodthorpe, actor, and Yana, (real name Pamela Guard).Template:Citation needed
See also
Other Stratfords in Buckinghamshire