Horton, Buckinghamshire
Coordinates: 51°28′23″N 0°32′35″W / 51.473°N 0.543°W
Horton is a hamlet in the parish of Ivinghoe, in Buckinghamshire, England.
The name Horton is a common one in England. It derives from Old English horu 'dirt' and tūn 'settlement, farm, estate', presumably meaning 'farm on muddy soil'.[1]
Although in the parish of Ivinghoe, the hamlet is nearer to Cheddington with its shops and churches, so that is the main village to which most residents of Horton feel most attached.
The hamlet of Horton was held after the Norman Conquest by the de Brocas family. The hamlet is very small, but a few new modern houses have been built over the last twenty years, most notably Brocas Way and The Grange. The latter was built in the 1970s as a dower house for Horton Hall.
Horton Hall is a large moated farmhouse with 18th-century origins. It is probably on the site of the original manor or hall. Today it is the home of a charity fund-raiser, and former champion amateur jockey, who breeds horses on the adjoining farm.
Two 16th-century half-timbered cottages remain in the village. One, still known as King's Head Cottage, was formerly an inn. The other, which is older, is a renovated Tudor hall on the outskirts of the hamlet.
Notable Residents
- Roger Goad (1538-1610), academic, theologian, Provost of King's College, Cambridge and three times Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. Born in Horton
- Robert Scawen (1602-1670), politician and member of parliament of the British House of Commons that supported the parliamentarian side of the English Civil War. Moved to Horton in 1658 until his death.
- Horace Davey, Baron Davey (1833-1907), judge, politician, and member of parliament of the English House of Commons from 1880 until 1892.
References
- ↑ Victor Watts (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. HORTON.
