Horton, Berkshire

The village name is a common one in England. It is Old English in origin and derives from the two words horu 'dirt' and tūn 'settlement, farm, estate', presumably meaning 'farm on muddy soil'.{{cite book |editor-last=Watts |editor-first=Victor |year=2004 |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Hortune.{{cite book |title=History of the Parish of Wraysbury, Ankerwycke Priory, and Magna Charta Island; with the History of Horton, and the town of Colnbrook, Bucks. |first=G.W.J. |last=Gyll |year=1862 |location=London |publisher=H. G. Bohn |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qMcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA193}} online version at Google Books: [http://worldcat.org/oclc/5001532 OCLC: 5001532] The Horton Manor was assessed at 10 hides and held by Walter son of Other.

Through the Horton parish flows the Colne Brook which runs to the River Thames from the River Colne.{{cite book |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42560 |chapter=Horton |title=A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 3 |editor-last=Page |editor-first=William H |editor-link=William Henry Page |year=1925 |pages=281–286}} {{rws|Wraysbury}} railway station is nearest to its southern end, and {{rws|Sunnymeads}} railway station is nearest to its western end. Heathrow Airport is to its east,{{Cite web |url=http://www.hortonparishcouncil.gov.uk/amenities.html |title=Amenities |access-date=18 August 2018 |archive-date=18 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818182053/http://www.hortonparishcouncil.gov.uk/amenities.html |url-status=dead }} separated from Horton by the M25 motorway. Horton has a local nature reserve, the Arthur Jacob Nature Reserve.{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=lnrIndex&query=REF_CODE%3D%271009362%27 |title=Magic Map Application |publisher=Magic.defra.gov.uk |access-date=2017-05-08}}

The Church of England parish church of St Michael has a 12th-century nave,{{NHLE |num= 1117644 |desc=Church of St Michael, Stanwell Road |accessdate=28 May 2013}} with an ornate Norman arch over the north door in the porch.{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Berkshire |year=1966 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |page=171}} The north transept is 15th century and the square bell-tower is late 16th century. The aisle, chancel and vestry were rebuilt in 1875–76. The exterior of the church is chequered with brickwork, limestone and flint. The tower is square and between {{convert|70 and 80|ft|m}} high. It has a clock, and the ring of bells was augmented from five to six in 1987.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

Horton was transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire in 1974. At parish level the village is represented by nine councillors of the Horton Parish Council.{{cite web |url=http://www.horton-berks-pc.gov.uk/ |title=homepage |publisher=Horton Parish Council |date=8 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315002612/http://www.horton-berks-pc.gov.uk/ |archive-date=15 March 2012 }} At borough level the town is part of the Datchet Horton and Wraysbury electoral ward and is currently represented by three independent councillors, David Buckley, Ewan Larcombe and Jodie Grove, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.{{cn|date=March 2025}} Nationally, since 1997, the ward has formed part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor, which has been represented since 2024 by Jack Rankin of the Conservative Party. Before 1997 the town was part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor and Maidenhead which was consistently held by the Conservative Party.

John Milton the English poet is one of the more famous former residents of Horton.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ii4AAAAAYAAJ |title=The life of John Milton: narrated in connexion with the political, ecclesiastical, and literary history of his time |volume=1 |first=David |last=Masson |author-link=David Masson |year=1859 |location=Boston |publisher=Gould and Lincoln}} His family rented Berkyn Manor, a house that belonged to Sir John Egerton, in the parish between 1632 and 1640. The chancel of St Michael's parish church contains the grave of Milton's mother Sara; and a 19th-century stained glass window on the church commemorates Milton's poem Paradise Lost. The current Berkyn Manor was rebuilt in 1848 by Edward Tyrrell (Remembrancer of the City of London) reputedly on the site of Milton's house.

File:North Door.JPG|Norman north door of St Michael's parish church

File:John Milton - Project Gutenberg eText 13619.jpg|John Milton (1608–74) wrote many of his poems, including Il Penseroso and L'Allegro, while living at Horton

{{Commons category|Horton, Berkshire}}

• [http://www.stmichaels-horton.org/horton/horton-home.php St Michael's Horton]
• [https://www.hortonparishcouncil.gov.uk/ Horton Parish Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411113452/https://www.hortonparishcouncil.gov.uk/ |date=11 April 2020 }}
• {{cite web |url= http://www.windsor.gov.uk/site/discover-the-area/horton-p281741 |title=Horton |work=Discover the Area |publisher=Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead |access-date=9 February 2016}}

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Category:Civil parishes in Berkshire

Category:Villages in Berkshire

Category:Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead