Horsington, Somerset
| Horsington | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Church of St John the Baptist, Horsington | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST702238 |
| Location: | 51°-0’47"N, 2°25’33"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 571 (2011[1]) |
| Post town: | Wincanton |
| Postcode: | BA9 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Somerton and Frome |
Horsington is a village and parish in Somerset, situated four miles south of Wincanton and a mile north of Templecombe. The village lies on the edge of Horsington Marsh, part of the Blackmore Vale, and the parish forms part of the hundred of Horethorne.[2] In 2011 the population of the Parish, which includes the adjoining hamlets of Peckholdsash and Wilkin Throop and the village of South Cheriton was 571.[1]
History
The name of the village means the settlement of the horse keepers.[3]
The cross on the village green was erected in 1284 to mark the site of the market. It is built of hamstone with an octagonal shaft on a stepped circular base.[4]
Horsington Manor was owned by the Gowens family from the 16th century until 1653, and from 1748 by Matthew Spencer who built the manor house.[5] Spencer's son sold it to the Bailward family. Large quantities of documents relating to Horsington Manor have been donated to the Somerset Record Office for safe-keeping
In 1990s, Ardon Lyon, a philosophy professor from London, purchased Horsington House, in a state of substantial neglect, disrepair and deferred maintenance. Prior to Professor Lyon's purchase, the owners had used Horsington House as a hotel. Professor Lyon spent the better part of a decade repairing and restoring Horsington House and its out-buildings (such as the carriage house) to their original state. He subdivided Horsington House, and the carriage house, into several flats and sold them to individual purchasers.
The Village Hall, also known as St Margaret's Hall, was built in 1907,[6] on land donated to the Community by Thomas Bailward. It lies midway between Horsington and South Cheriton villages, isolated from other buildings but adjacent to playing fields leased to South Cheriton Football Club and Horsington Cricket Club. There is a car-park for about 25 vehicles alongside
Religious sites
The parish Church of St John the Baptist was originally a 15th-century building, on the site of an earlier church, but was largely rebuilt in 1885–1887 by Willcox of Bath. The first recorded Rector was in 1305. It has been designated as a Grade-II* listed building.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes — SUMMARY Profiles" (Excel). Somerset Intelligence. http://www.somersetintelligence.org.uk/files/Somerset%20Census%20Key%20Statistics%20-%20Summary%20Profiles.xls. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
- ↑ Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The complete guide. Wimbourne: Dovecote Press. p. 118. ISBN 1-874336-26-1.
- ↑ "Village cross". English Heritage. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1017016. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ↑ "Horsington Manor". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=415425. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
- ↑ "Home". Horsington Village Hall. http://horsingtonvillagehall.co.uk/. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ↑ "Church of St John the Baptist". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=415419. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Horsington, Somerset) |
- British History Online 'Horsington', A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 7: Bruton, Horethorne and Norton Ferris Hundreds (1999), pp. 119–31. Date accessed: 27 Oct 2005.
- Picture of Horsington House, a Barnardo's home from 1946 to 1972.
- The Horsington Blog -news, comment and gossip from Horsington & the Cheritons
- Horsington Village Hall
- Horsington Parish Council