Hornton
| Hornton | |
| Oxfordshire | |
|---|---|
 St. John the Baptist parish church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP385447 |
| Location: | 52°6’1"N, 1°26’18"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 328 (2011) |
| Post town: | Banbury |
| Postcode: | OX15 |
| Dialling code: | 01295 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cherwell |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Banbury |
| Website: | hornton.org.uk |
Hornton is a village about three miles north-west of Banbury in Oxfordshire.
Many of Hornton's houses and cottages date from the Great Rebuilding (a period across the land which ran from about 1580 to 1640).[1] Characteristically the houses are built of local Hornton ironstone and have thatched roofs.[2] They include the manor house, whose date stone records that it was built in 1607.[3]
Churches
The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church, St John the Baptist, are the nave and the arcade of the north aisle, both of which were built late in the 12th century. They are in the transitional style between Norman and Early Gothic. In the 13th century the nave and north aisle were extended westwards by the addition of a fourth bay. In the 14th century a clerestory and a two-bay south aisle were added to the nave and most of the doors and windows were remodelled. Also in the 14th century the interior was decorated with wall paintings including a Pietà,[4] a St George[5] and a Doom.[2] The bell tower was built around 1400 and the present Perpendicular Gothic east window of the chancel was added in the 15th century. Many of the wall paintings were painted over with limewash after the Civil War.[2]
Non-conformist groups in Hornton included Baptists in the 17th century and Quakers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Hornton had a Primitive Methodist congregation by 1836, which had built its own chapel by 1842.[1] Hornton's present Methodist church was built in 1884.[6]
History
The open field system of farming predominated in the parish until the common lands were inclosed in 1766.[1] The enclosure included allocating some land from which the rent would maintain a schoolmaster for the village. A legal dispute with the occupier prevented the parish from obtaining this income until 1800, but by 1815 the village had a free school teaching more than 50 children. In 1833 this was superseded by the building of a new National School for the village. In 1882 the school was enlarged and became a Church of England school, but in 1912 it was burnt down. A new County Council elementary school was opened in 1914.[1]
In 1783 the village had two public houses: the Red Lion and the Crown. These were joined by the Buck by 1786 and the Bull by 1806. The only pub currently trading is the Dun Cow.[1]
About the village
The school continues to serve the village as Hornton Primary School.[7] The Red Lion is now called the Dun Cow. There is a Hornton and District Women's Institute.[8] Hornton United Football Club plays in Banbury District and Lord Jersey Football Association Premier Division.[9]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Hornton) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lobel & Crossley 1969, pp. 123–139.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Walker 1975, p. 29.
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2page 655
- ↑ Painted Church website: Hornton Pietà
- ↑ Painted Church website: Hornton St. George
- ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 654.
- ↑ Hornton Primary School
- ↑ "Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes". http://www.oxfordshirefwi.freeuk.com/.
- ↑ Banbury District and Lord Jersey Football Association
- A History of the County of Oxford - Volume 9 pp 123-139: Parishes: Horley and Hornton (Victoria County History)
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2
- Walker, George Graham (1975). Churches of the Banbury Area. Kineton: Roundwood Press. ISBN 0-900093-52-8.