Loading AI tools
Human settlement in England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taston is a hamlet in Spelsbury civil parish, about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) north of Charlbury and 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
Taston | |
---|---|
Thor Stone (left foreground), with the Medieval preaching cross beyond | |
Location within Oxfordshire | |
OS grid reference | SP3621 |
Civil parish | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Chipping Norton |
Postcode district | OX7 |
Dialling code | 01608 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Oxfordshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Spelsbury Parish Council |
Survey of English Place-Names: [1]
The original Old Danish name[lower-alpha 1] might have been:
The name element Thor is a reference to the Norse God Thor.[lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 5] The name element stan is from Old English stān ( " stone " ).[lower-alpha 6]
The toponym might be:
The Thor Stone is a monolithic standing stone that stands about seven-foot tall in the centre of Taston. [lower-alpha 7] [lower-alpha 8] It is a menhir, meaning that it was man handled there by humans. A local myth maintains that the stone portrays the image of a thunderbolt, and that it was created by a thunderbolt from Thor himself. [lower-alpha 9] [4] The Thor Stone is a scheduled monument.[5]
The Norse God Thor was one of the most powerful of the many Norse Gods who featured in Norse mythology. [lower-alpha 10] [lower-alpha 11] According to Norse mythology, Thor was the son of the Norse god Óðinn and the Norse goddess Jörð.[lower-alpha 12] [lower-alpha 13]
It may be possible that the Danish people who settled in Oxfordshire during the Viking Age [lower-alpha 14] continued to follow the traditions and beliefs that were customary in their Scandinavian homeland. Stories from Norse mythology were retold and passed down from generation to generation. [lower-alpha 15] [lower-alpha 16]
Given the Anglo-Saxons settled this area more extensively than the Norse, the derivation is more likely come from them. Before being Christianised, the Anglo-Saxons worshipped a pantheon of gods very similar to the Norse deities, including a thunder god named Thunor.
Maps showing Access, Designations and other criteria from Natural England: [lower-alpha 17]
At the centre of Taston are the base and broken shaft of a Medieval preaching cross.[17] It is a Grade II* listed building.[12]
Middle Farmhouse is a house built of coursed rubble in the 17th and early 18th centuries.[13] Part of the roof is of Stonesfield slate. The farmstead has a four-bay barn that was built of stone early in the 18th century and altered in 1884.[14]
The Firkins is a small house near Thorsbrook Spring. It is built of rubble and probably dates from early in the 18th century.[15]
At Thorsbrook Spring, about 140 yards (130 m) southeast of the preaching cross, is a Victorian Gothic Revival memorial fountain. It was built in 1862 in memory of Henrietta, Viscountess Dillon,[16] wife of Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon.
The Danish Viking warlord Guthrum based his army at Cirencester for about a year following his defeat at the Battle of Edington. [lower-alpha 19] [lower-alpha 20] In 879 Guthrum moved his large army from Cirencester to East Anglia, as had been agreed in the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum.
Taston is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the Akeman Street Roman road, which connected Cirencester directly with Alchester (Roman town) near Bicester. Alchester was a strategic location with connecting routes north and south:
It would be expected that Guthrum's army used Akeman Street to travel from Cirencester to East Anglia. [lower-alpha 24] It is possible that not all of Guthrum's army recruits continued all of the way to East Anglia. There is a cluster of Danish and Old Norse place names to the north of Akeman Street.[lower-alpha 25] Oxfordshire became increasingly populated by Danes of Viking Age origin as waves of migrants crossed the North sea and followed the River Thames inland to Oxford.[lower-alpha 26]
There is a cluster of Old Danish and Old Norse place names near Taston:
Distance[lower-alpha 27] | Direction | Place name | Danish Old Norse |
---|---|---|---|
Taston near Enstone, Oxfordshire. | Norse god Thor | ||
1.5 miles (2.4 km) | south east | Grim's Ditch. | Norse god Odin.[lower-alpha 28] |
1.5 miles (2.4 km) | north east | Hoar Stone (tumulus) near Enstone. | Old Norse haugr ( " tumulus " ) |
1.5 miles (2.4 km) | north west | Hawk Stone. | Old Norse haugr |
6 miles (9.7 km) | north east | Hoar Stone near Barton Abbey. | Old Norse haugr |
8 miles (13 km) | north east | Dane Hill near Duns Tew.[19] | Dane Hill |
12 miles (19 km) | south east | Seacourt near the City of Oxford. | Old Norse sef ( " sedge, rush " ) |
Taston is very close to a series of defensive earthwork's known as Grim's Ditch around Ditchley Park. The earthwork's extend south as far as Akeman Street Roman road and were probably built or re-used by the Roman army to resist attack from the Dobunni.[lower-alpha 29] The North Oxfordshire Grim's Ditch is one of many earthwork's of a similar name in the south and east of England. The reason why they are all called " Grim's Ditch " is not known, since they are believed to have different origins. The name " Grim " was a common Old Danish personal-name during the Viking Age.[20] The name was associated with the Norse god Óðinn, known as Wōden to the Anglo Saxons.[lower-alpha 30] [lower-alpha 31]
Dane Hill is a small hamlet on the A4260 road from Oxford to Banbury.[19] The hamlet might mark the most westerly extent of Danish controlled territory into Oxfordshire, following the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum.
A 19th century map shows how territory was divided between the Anglo Saxons (Pink) and the Danes (Blue):[lower-alpha 32]
The Anglo Saxons later gained territory from the Danes, and Buckingham became a Mercian burh, one of a network of fortified burhs created to defend Mercia and Wessex against the Danes.[lower-alpha 37]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.