Stanford Dingley

Stanford Dingley is a pleasant ancient village standing in the valley of the River Pang.

A few find of Roman-British material in the village centre suggest that a settlement of this date exists in the area, although its location and details of it’s character have yet to be established.

The village is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Stanworde. This probably derives from ‘stony ford’, an indication that this has been a crossing place of the River Pang for many years. The Dingley element comes from Robert Dyngley, who we know owned the manor in 1428.

The Church of St Denys dates back to the Norman period and is a very fine small country church. However, its real claim to fame are the excellent medieval wall paintings, many of which date to the 13th century.

Next door to the church are a fine range of barns and a substantial farm house at Manor Farm. This farm stands within a large moat, partly filled in, which is almost certainly the site of the medieval manorial complex.

There are many fine late medieval and early post medieval buildings surviving in the parish including the Bull Inn which includes surviving 15th elements.