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| {{For|the village in the north of Gloucestershire|Staunton, near Gloucester, Gloucestershire}}
| | #Rediret[[Staunton, Gloucestershire]] |
| {{Infobox town
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| |name=Staunton
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| |county=Gloucestershire
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| |os grid ref=SO551126
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| |latitude=51.8104
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| |longitude=-2.6523
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| |picture=Staunton village.jpg
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| |picture caption=
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| |population=793
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| |census year=2011
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| |post town=Coleford
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| |postcode=GL16
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| |dialling code=
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| |LG district=Forest of Dean
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| |constituency=Forest of Dean
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| }}
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| '''Staunton''' is a village in the [[Forest of Dean]] in the west of [[Gloucestershire]], two and a half miles east of [[Monmouth]] and the same distance north-west of [[Coleford, Gloucestershire|Coleford]]. The main road which passes through Staunton is the A4136 road.
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| Staunton is the first village in the [[Forest of Dean]] when approached from [[Monmouthshire]], sited high above [[Monmouth]] and the [[River Wye]], which forms the county border.
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| The parish church is All Saints.
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| The name 'Staunton' comes from the Old English words ''stan tun'' meaning 'stony farmstead' or settlement. Stane also refers to six other significant and notable stones that lie within the parish including a rocky outcrop, called the Frog or Toad's Mouth at the west end of the village. The Long Stone, a pillar of rock or possible standing stone which may date from before 1700 BC, is visible on the Coleford road. The Broad Stone is the largest of several rocks in the fields of Broadstone farm. The Buckstone is situated nearby, as are the Suck Stone and the Near Hearkening Rock.
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| ==History==
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| There is little documented history of the parish of Staunton before 1100. Plenty of evidence of Neolithic man has been unearthed over the years in the form of flint cores from weapons and flint tool chipping. It is known that the Romans moved iron ore from local mines down to ''Blestium'' (Monmouth), probably on the ancient route lying below and to the east of the present A4136 road between Staunton and Monmouth. After the Romans left, Staunton remained as one or two farmsteads.
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| King Edward the Confessor was the first English King to designate the area between the [[River Severn]] and the [[River Wye]], as the "King's Forest", a Royal Forest.
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| Staunton is mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] as one farmstead and a waste or meend. It is probable that the first Norman Lord of the manor arrived in about 1100, and a fortified manor house was built above Castle Ditch. The parish church was also initially built at this time.
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| Opposite the village hall is a pound where lost sheep would be held. When farmers collected their sheep, they would have to pay for their release. This is now a frequent place for the Summer fete to be held.
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| In 1608 there were 50 houses in the village of Staunton. A muster roll for the parish includes one labourer, two miners, three farmers, one lime burner, one husbandryman, two blacksmiths, one carpenter and a tiler, with others making a total of 35 - this is for fighting men (when called) with weapons in the parish. This would mean that there were about 150 residents altogether.
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| Deposits of iron ore in the parish were being dug in 1608 and various small mines provided work during the 18th century. In 1871 Robinhood's mine in the Marian's Enclosure, was opened and was worked mainly for red oxide. It produced iron ore for several years before it closed in 1932. The Ministry of Supply gave it a short lease of life when they opened it up during the Second World War.
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| In 1664 there was a limekiln on waste land near the church, and in 1792 one at a quarry at Tillys, which grew to 3 in the 19th century. From the 1950s the quarry on the ridge of the plantations north of Highmeadow above Cherry Orchard Farm was worked for road stone. By 1994, it was operated and enlarged by Tarmac Ltd., and a new access road was made through the woods to the Coleford - Monmouth road.
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| In 1799 the village had one inn, The Ostrich, which became the Royal Oak in 1832. In 1813 competition arrived as the White Horse opened in the west part of the village street, which later became the main road. It publicised itself as the last Inn in England. The White Horse, which was rebuilt in the latter part of the 19th century, is now the only public house as the Ostrich closed in the 1890s.
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| Below the White Horse was a Nursery with large greenhouses on the area stretching from the pub car park to the high House open until the 1970s – this site is now built on.
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| At the beginning of the 19th century a parish day-school was held in Staunton church for around 20 children. In 1828 a small single-room school was built near the east end of the main village street. This school was closed in 1911 and the building used as a reading room. Subsequently, it has been used as the Village Hall.
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| The old Post office – no longer standing - was on the main road on the corner of what is now Well Meadow. It relocated to the opposite side of the road and was combined with a village shop where today there is an Architectural Antique Shop. The Post Office relocated itself again next to High House but closed in the early 1990s. Staunton used to have a petrol filling station where there is now a vehicle repair business.
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| ==About the village==
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| The church has 6 bells, which over the years has been of some interest to campanologists. There have been many bellringing clubs in the past, training new bellringers to ring for local weddings and funerals.
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| Staunton is known for being surrounded by named stones such as the Buckstone, the Suckstone and the Near Hearkening Rock. The best known stone and a local landmark is the Buckstone. When Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton visited [[Monmouth]] and district, it was painted white in their honour. Up to the middle of the 19th century it used to rock on its base - however in June 1885 a party of five travelling actors from the London Star Company and the landlord at the Agincourt Inn in Monmouth, having enjoyed an evening of sampling fine wines, managed to dislodge the stone and send it crashing down the slope. It split into several pieces, but was hauled back up the hill at great cost and to prevent further vandalisation was cemented together in place and no longer rocks.
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| The Suckstone is reputed to be the largest piece of detached conglomerate or puddingstone rock in England and Wales and has been estimated to weigh maybe 14,000 tons.<ref>Chris Barber : Exploring Gwent p125</ref> It is possible to climb this huge stone at the bottom right hand corner. According to local myth, those that climb the Suckstone are visited by the mischievous and capricious, Fairy of the Rock, who will grant certain visitors superhuman powers. Notable people who have encountered this woodland spirit are said to include Victorian artist, JMW Turner, during a boyhood visit to the area, Coleford-born playwright, Dennis Potter and prominent local athlete, James Fletcher.
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| The Near Hearkening Rock is a large exposed and weathered cliff face of Old Red Sandstone and quartz conglomerate and reputedly was given its name by local gamekeepers who used it to detect poachers in their woods at night, both as an observation platform and as a listening post and it is reputedly possible to detect even a whisper or the slightest movement such are the acoustics in this area while standing with your back to the concave cliff face or on the top of the cliff.<ref>Exploring Gwent by Chris Barber p126</ref>
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| The [[Offa's Dyke Path]] passes close to the village. The [[Wysis Way]] runs through the back of Staunton and goes from Monmouth to [[Gloucester]]. It links up with Offa's Dyke path and the [[Thames Path]].
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| Staunton Woods are reputed to be those that gave inspiration to the hit song, 'The Teddy Bears' Picnic', composed in 1907 with the famous lyrics added by John Walter Bratton in 1932. While Bratton lived in Somerset, it is said he had a young lover from Staunton, one Maud Pleasance, who, when leaving the house for her al fresco assignations with Bratton, told her ferocious older husband that she was 'off to see the Teddy bears'. One line in the final verse - 'Every Teddy bear who's been good, is sure of a treat today' - is said to be a reference by Bratton to words whispered to him by Maud. A local group known as the 'Staunton Teddy Bears' meets on a regular basis during the summer months to pay homage to the couple's open-minded enjoyment of nature.
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| ==Village activities==
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| [[File:All Saints Church, Staunton.jpg|thumb|All Saints Church]]
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| The village pub, the White Horse Inn, closed in March 2009, but reopened under new ownership on 3 July 2010.
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| The old octagonal village pound is just past the village hall where there is some seating and views.
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| There was for many years am annual horticultural show followed by the Staunton Country Fayre which ran very successfully for many years - the last one being in 2005.
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| The village hall today is the meeting place for the village art group, book group, Harvest Suppers, sewing classes, the Garden Club, Table Tennis Club, keep fit, Pantos, Musical Evenings, Forest of Dean Quaker Sunday worship <ref>[http://www.glosquakers.org/forest/index.htm FoD Quaker Page]</ref> and Parish Council meetings. It holds many events throughout the year.
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| ==Outside links==
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| {{commons|Staunton, Gloucestershire}}
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| *[http://www.fweb.org.uk/Dean/towns/staunton.htm Staunton, Forest of Dean, Glos]
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| *[http://www.wyenot.com/longstone.htm the Long Stone information on www.wyeknot.com]
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| *{{geograph|3676865|Staunton}}
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| *[http://www.glosquakers.org/forest/index.htm Forest of Dean Quaker Meeting]
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| ==References==
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| {{Reflist}}
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