Exton is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

City of Winchester Winchester (), or the City of Winchester, is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Hampshire, England. The district is named after its main settlement of Winchester, which ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. The village lies in the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national parks of England and Wales, national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in t ...

, on the west bank of the

River Meon The River Meon () is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington.Hampshire County Council (2006). Activitie ...

, immediately to the north of

Corhampton Corhampton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Corhampton and Meonstoke, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It lies on the western bank of the River Meon. In 1931 the parish had a population ...

. It is located two miles north of

Droxford Droxford ( Drokensford) is a village in Hampshire, England. Geography The village is clustered with slight ribbon development along its main, north–south, undulating road. It is entirely on the lower half of the western slopes of the Meon ...

and five miles north-east of

Bishop's Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route between ...

. Its name first appears in 940 as ''East Seaxnatune'', meaning "farmstead of the East Saxons". The parish straddles the Meon Valley, including higher ground of the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

to either side, with

Old Winchester Hill {{Infobox SSSI , image= OldWinchesterHill.JPG , image_caption = , name= Old Winchester Hill , aos= Hampshire , interest=Biological , gridref={{gbmappingsmall, SU 642 208 , area= {{convert, 66.2, ha, acre, abbr=off , notifyda ...

to the east and the southern part of Beacon Hill (shared with

Warnford Warnford is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The parish covers 1283 hectares (3170 acres). The village lies on the A32 road, A32 in the upper valley of the River Meon between West Meon and Exton ...

parish) to the west. It is crossed from east to west by the

South Downs Way The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...

long-distance footpath. The A32 and the Meon Valley Railway footpath cross from north to south. The parish contains numerous archaeological sites including a

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

flint working site,

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...

s and the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

fort at Old Winchester Hill. There are also

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Dark Age The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages (–10th centuries), or occasionally the entire Middle Ages (–15th centuries), in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which characterises it as marked by economic, int ...

sites and the site of the mediaeval village of Lomer. The 13th-century church of St Peter and St Paul was heavily restored in the 19th century. The 1892 restoration (the second of the 19th century) added stained glass windows by Charles Spooner in the style of the

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

. Exton has remained a small community for more than two centuries. In 1801 Exton's total

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

was 224, by 1901 it had grown slightly to 299 yet by 2001 the population had shrunk to 230 and again to 203 at the 2011 Census. Photographs from the 1950s show a village shop and post office in Exton but this closed in the 1960s. The only community buildings in the village are the church and the Shoe Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. In 1870–72, John Goring's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' described Exton like this: :"EXTON, a village and a parish in Droxford district, Hants. The village stands 2 miles N by E of Droxford, and 5 NE of Bishops-Waltham r. station; and has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

under

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. The parish comprises 2,464 acres (10 km²). Real property, £2,640. Pop., 257. Houses, 41. Exton Lodge is a principal residence. The living is a rectory in the diocese of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

. Value, 331.* Patron, the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

. The church was rebuilt in 1847, and is in the early English style. "

References

External links

Bridge churches - Exton
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Mesolithic sites of Europe Stone Age sites in England