Stow Longa
Encyclopedia
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
(now part of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
), England – is a village near Tilbrook
Tilbrook
Tilbrook – in Huntingdonshire , England – is a village near Covington west of Huntingdon.-External links:**...
west of Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
and two miles north of Kimbolton
Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire
Kimbolton is a large village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately east of Higham Ferrers, west of St Neots and west of Cambridge, north of Bedford and south of Peterborough.-Castle:...
. Stow Longa's original name was Stow or Long Stow, which comes from the Old English word stōw (meaning 'holy place') and the Latin word longa or Old English lang (meaning 'long'). Altogether, Stow Longa's name may mean 'the long holy place' or 'an extended settlement which is a holy place', though this is only a rough guess.
Stow was also thought to have been the name of the pre-Conquest
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
estate, which, in the medieval period, was split between two parishes: one, Over Stow or Upper Stow, the western part, which belonged to the Kimbolton
Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire
Kimbolton is a large village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately east of Higham Ferrers, west of St Neots and west of Cambridge, north of Bedford and south of Peterborough.-Castle:...
parish, and the other, Estou (also Nether Stow or Long Stow), the eastern part, which was part of the soke
Soke (legal)
The term soke ), at the time of the Norman Conquest of England generally denoted "jurisdiction", but due to vague usage probably lacks a single precise definition....
of Spaldwick
Spaldwick
Spaldwick is a village in the English county of Cambridgeshire and the district and former county of Huntingdonshire.Spaldwick is located near Catworth west of Huntingdon. It has a school, playgroup, service station, a village shop called number twelve, a church and a pub called The George...
.
Mistakenly described as a hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
, it has the suitable number of houses and businesses to make it a village. Stow Longa is a village that is, at the current time, void of any street lamps, village shops, a school, a pub, and drains. However, Stow Longa does possess several thatched cottages, a village room, a blocked-up well (on the village green), a stone cross (discussed below) and mature elm trees that survived the Dutch Elm disease
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...
crisis.
According to a locally-published collection of short stories, 'Ploughing Songs' by Damian Croft, the reason why the pubs that were in Stow Longa were closed down in the 1950s was because, "returning drovers used it to give a bad name to a few otherwise nameless women."
Early history
Before it was transferred to the Spaldwick parish in AD 991, the Stow estate had belonged to BrithnothByrhtnoth
Byrhtnoth was a 10th century Ealdorman of Essex. His name is composed of Old English beorht and noth ....
, Ealdorman
Ealdorman
An ealdorman is the term used for a high-ranking royal official and prior magistrate of an Anglo-Saxon shire or group of shires from about the ninth century to the time of King Cnut...
of Essex
Kingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
, who died at the Battle of Maldon
Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 August 991 near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Aethelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ended in an Anglo-Saxon defeat...
in AD 991. Brithnoth left his two estates, Spaldwick and Somersham, to the Abbot of Ely.
Stow Longa's church
Though peaceful and fairly hidden today, the church in Stow Longa has had a remarkable history. Stow Longa was confirmed a prebend by Pope Eugene III
Pope Eugene III
Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
on the 6th February 1146, and again by Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
on the 5th January 1163. A minster
Minster
Minster could mean:*Minster *Minster Machine CompanyMinster could also refer to:*Minster, part of Forrabury and Minster*Minster, Ohio*Minster, Swale*Minster-in-Thanet...
or mother-church of the local estate (which included Stow Longa, Spaldwick
Spaldwick
Spaldwick is a village in the English county of Cambridgeshire and the district and former county of Huntingdonshire.Spaldwick is located near Catworth west of Huntingdon. It has a school, playgroup, service station, a village shop called number twelve, a church and a pub called The George...
, Easton
Easton, Cambridgeshire
Easton is a village and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is west of Huntingdon and has a church and a small park. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 162....
, Little Catworth, Barham and Upthorpe) before its importance was subsumed by Spaldwick
Spaldwick
Spaldwick is a village in the English county of Cambridgeshire and the district and former county of Huntingdonshire.Spaldwick is located near Catworth west of Huntingdon. It has a school, playgroup, service station, a village shop called number twelve, a church and a pub called The George...
and Kimbolton
Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire
Kimbolton is a large village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately east of Higham Ferrers, west of St Neots and west of Cambridge, north of Bedford and south of Peterborough.-Castle:...
, St Botolph's wealth and importance attracted noted figures to the prebendary, such as Thomas Wolsey, who was Stow Longa's prebend from 1509 to 1514.
Above the priest door, outside the east side of the church, is the nationally famous stone carving known as the Mermaid Stone (or the Beckoning Mermaid Stone), since the engraving displays a mermaid between two creatures. According to one source, the creature on the right of the mermaid represents the crocodile (a creature of damnation) and the creature on the left of the mermaid, though on our right, represents the lamb, i.e. the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ). An alternative interpretation of the Mermaid Stone could be:
- Sins - the mermaid represents the sin of lust, whilst going in the direction of the beast on her right (representing hell) and turning her back against the beast on her left (representing the Kingdom of God).
- Anti-Paganism - even though this interpretation has no real backup, the Mermaid Stone may represent (based on the fact that a stream passes by the church) the struggle between Goddess worship (who maybe either a river deity or whose attributes are scourned as lustful) - going towards Hell and leaving Christ - and the emerging Christian religion.