Horton is a village 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 ...

on the Cotswold Edge, in the

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England. It is about north of

Chipping Sodbury Chipping Sodbury is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated 13 miles (21 km) north-east of Bristol and directly east of Yate. The town ...

. The nearest settlement is Little Sodbury, about away; Hawkesbury Upton and

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

are both miles away. It is a

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

built on the slopes of a steep hill. In 2011 the parish had a population of 355. On 1 April 2023 the parish of Little Sodbury was merged with Horton. The name ''Horton'' is a common one in England. It normally derives from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''horu'' 'dirt' and ''tūn'' 'settlement, farm, estate', presumably meaning 'farm on muddy soil', but the historical forms of this Horton vary, including the Domesday ''Horedone'', ''Hortune'' from 1167, and the 1291 form ''Heorton'', the latter of which could point to Old English ''heort'' 'stag'. Horton Court is a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, now in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

and is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The estate is reputed to have at one time been owned by one of King Harold's sons. The oldest part of the house was built as a rectory by Robert de Beaufeu, who was rector of Horton and prebendary of Salisbury. The Norman doorways and windows have rounded arches and the roof is arch-braced and dates to the fourteenth century. It is one of the oldest houses in the country, with parts of the great hall and north wing dating from 1140, with further additions to the north wing added in the fourteenth, fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The rest of the house was built in 1521 for Willian Knight, who was later the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The house has an L-shaped plan and is constructed of stone with a stone slate roof. The Anglican church of St James the Elder is also a

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

listed building, originally built in the twelfth century and rebuilt in the fourteenth century, with alterations in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and restorations in 1865.

Notable people

William Prout William Prout Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (; 15 January 1785 – 9 April 1850) was an English chemist, physician, and natural theologian. He is remembered today mainly for what is called Prout's hypothesis. Biography Prout was born in H ...

(1785—1850), chemist, physician, and natural theologian, was born in Horton

References

External links

{{South Gloucestershire Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire