Horton, Dorset
Historical Description
Horton, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands 4¼ miles SSW of Cranborne, 6 NNE of Wimborne, and 3½ from Verwood station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Wimborne; money order and telegraph office, Witchampton. Acreage of the civil parish, 2761; population, 397; of the ecclesiastical, 813. The manor belongs to the Earl of Shaftesbury, A Benedictine priory, a cell to Sherborne Abbey, was founded at Horton in 970 by Orgar. A circular trench, several barrows, and traces of a chapel, are here. The living is a vicarage, united with that of Woodlands, in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £150 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Shaftesbury. The church was rebuilt in 1720 and is a peculiarly-shaped structure, with a spire.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Dorsetshire | |
| Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
| Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Horton St. Wolfrida | |
| Hundred | Badbury | |
| Poor Law union | Cranborne | 1835 - 1836 |
| Poor Law union | Wimborne and Cranborne | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Wimborne | |
| Registration sub-district | Cranborne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1563. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).
Churches
Church of England
St. Wolfhilda (parish church)
The parish church of St. Wolfhilda is an edifice of brick and stone, consisting of chancel, nave, vestry and a tower, with spire, containing one bell: the tombs include one to Sir Giles de Braose, d. 1305, and his wife : in the vestry is a monument to the Hon. Henry Hastings, second son of George, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, d. Oct. 5, 1650, and Dorothy, his wife. d. Dec. 4, 1658: the organ and choir stalls were added in 1891: the chalice and paten date from 1610: there are 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Horton was in Wimborne Registration District from 1837 to 1937, Blandford Registration District from 1937 to 1956, and Poole Registration District from 1956 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Horton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Horton (St. Wolfrida))
- Hunt & Co.'s Directory of Dorsetshire, Hampshire, & Wiltshire 1851
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Horton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the Dorset County Chronicle and the Sherborne Mercury online.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.