Stoke Ferry



Stoke Ferry is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, 6.5 miles southeast of Downham Market. The village lies on the River Wissey, previously known as the River Stoke.

It covers an area of 9.15 km2 and had a population of 896 in 358 households as of the 2001 UK Census, the population increasing to 1,020 at the 2011 UK Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

All Saints' Church is no longer used for church services. It was owned by Kit Hesketh-Harvey until his death in 2023.

The village has many small businesses such as two takeaway shops, a hairdresser, wood yard, DIY hardware shop & metalworks workshop, funeral directors, and a corner shop. There is also a thriving community-owned pub, The Blue Bell Pub-Cafe which was bought by the local community on 30 June 2021 and, after extensive refurbishment reopened on 4 June 2022.

Historical references
In 1805, Stoke Ferry is described as being "distant from London 88 miles 2 furlongs; on the Stoke river, which is navigable to this place from the Ouse. Fair, December 6...on the right, 5 m is the seat of Robert Wilson, esq. Inn, Crown."

The village was serving as a post town (under the name "Stoke") by 1775; the name had been changed to "Stoke Ferry" by 1816. A type of postmark known as an undated circle was issued to the village in 1828, and it had a Penny Post service, under Brandon (in Suffolk), between 1835 and 1840.

Many photographs of the village can be found in a collection published in 2007 available to purchase at £4.95 from Bonnetts Hardware & DIY in the village.

It once had its own railway station, the terminus of the Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway, a branch from the main line between Cambridge and King's Lynn. It closed to passengers in 1930 but remained open for goods until 1965. From the early 2000s it was used as a wood yard which moved to its new home on Boughton Road North. The site of the old station is currently being developed as a housing complex which will retain its Grade II listed buildings.

There is still a blacksmith's shop, Thomas B. Bonnette, in the heart of the village that has been trading over 100 years. As well as ironwork, they also sell hardware, plumbing supplies, timber and steel. As well as a hairdresser's, there are takeaways and many other small businesses that help make Stoke Ferry such a vibrant village.