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 |
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.
Survey of English Place-Names: [1]
The original Old Danish name[a] might have been:
The name element Thor is a reference to the Norse God Thor.[d] [e] The name element stan is from Old English stān ( " stone " ).[f]
The toponym might be:
The Thor Stone is a monolithic standing stone that stands about seven-foot tall in the centre of Taston. [g] [h] 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. [i] [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. [j] [k] According to Norse mythology, Thor was the son of the Norse god Óðinn and the Norse goddess Jörð.[l] [m]
It may be possible that the Danish people who settled in Oxfordshire during the Viking age [n] 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. [o] [p]
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: [q]
List Entry | Category | Short description |
---|---|---|
1251432[12] | Grade II* | CROSS. Medieval.[r] |
1262715[13] | Grade II | MIDDLE FARMHOUSE. C17 and early C18 |
1251433[14] | Grade II | BARN. Early C18 and 1884 |
1262714[15] | Grade II | THE FIRKINS, Small house. early C18 |
1262769[16] | Grade II | MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN. 1862 |
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. [s] [t] 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. [x] 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.[y] 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.[z]
There is a cluster of Old Danish and Old Norse place names near Taston:
Distance[aa] | 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.[ab] |
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 " ) |
Main article: Grim's Ditch § North Oxfordshire |
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.[ac] 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.[ad] [ae]
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):[af]
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.[ak]