Taston

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Coordinates: 51°54′14″N 1°28′26″W / 51.904°N 1.474°W / 51.904; -1.474
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Taston
Thor Stone (left foreground), with the
Medieval preaching cross beyond
Taston is located in Oxfordshire
Taston
Taston
Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid referenceSP3621
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townChipping Norton
Postcode districtOX7
Dialling code01608
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteSpelsbury Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°54′14″N 1°28′26″W / 51.904°N 1.474°W / 51.904; -1.474
Not to be confused with Hexestrol dicaprylate.

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.

Name[edit]

Name history[edit]

Survey of English Place-Names: [1]

  • Thorstan 1278–9.[1]
  • Thorstane 1316.[1]
  • Torstone 1492.[1]
  • Taston 1608–9.[1]

The original Old Danish name[a] might have been:

Toponym ( Thorstan )[edit]

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:

  • Thor stone.
  • Thor's stone.

Thor Stone[edit]

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.

Natural England maps[edit]

Maps showing Access, Designations and other criteria from Natural England: [q]

  • MAGiC MaP : Taston – Scheduled Monuments.[8]
  • MAGiC MaP : Taston – Listed Buildings.[9]
  • MAGiC MaP : Taston – Grims Ditch.[10]
  • MAGiC MaP : Taston – Monuments – Spelsbury Parish boundary.[11]

Listed buildings[edit]

Medieval preaching cross: the steps, base and broken shaft survive

List Entry table[edit]

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

Medieval village cross[edit]

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 and barn[edit]

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[edit]

The Firkins is a small house near Thorsbrook Spring. It is built of rubble and probably dates from early in the 18th century.[15]

Memorial fountain[edit]

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.

History[edit]

Danish Vikings[edit]

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]

Local place names[edit]

Place name table[edit]

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 " )

Grim's Ditch[edit]

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[edit]

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]

References[edit]

Thor Stone

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ See (Contents) > History > Danish Vikings.
  2. ^ The Old Norse spelling of " Thor " used a Thorn ( Þ ) which was later replaced with a Th (digraph).
  3. ^ WiKtionary : Old Norse < steinn >
    1. " a stone, boulder, rock. "
  4. ^ See Thor >. . .In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder. . .
  5. ^ The Norse god Thor was also known as " Thunder "
  6. ^ WiKtionary : Old English < stân >
    1. " stone ".
  7. ^ Thor Stone – Grid ref SP 35940 22082.
  8. ^ The Old Stones. . .a hefty seven foot stone that leans dramatically into a garden wall in the centre of the village. One story goes that it was a thunderbolt thrown by Thor himself. . .[2]
  9. ^ Thor Stone Standing Stone (Menhir) in Oxfordshire at SP 3593 2208. . .An impressive seven-foot tall standing stone,. . .told in local folklore to have been a thunderbolt cast down from the skies by Thor. . .first recorded in the late thirteenth century in the survey of the Chadlington hundred.[3]
  10. ^ Vikings; A History. . .dedicated to the most powerful of the Old Norse Gods. Thor, God of thunder (and by some measure the most powerful of them all) had pride of place. . .[6]
  11. ^ Vikings; A History. . .Known today as the Repton Warrior, he was buried with full Viking honours. . .and around his neck a little silver Thor's hammer. . .the thunder-bringing hammer called Mjölnir. . .[7]
  12. ^ See (Contents) > Local place names > Grim's Ditch > . . .associated with the Norse god Óðinn.
  13. ^ WiKtionary : Old Norse < Grímr >
    1. " a male given name, especially one of Óðinn's name ".
  14. ^ See (Contents) > History > Danish Vikings.
  15. ^ See also Thor's magic hammer
  16. ^ See also Thor's fight with the World Serpent
  17. ^ MAGiC MaP: See Table of Contents:
    • Administrative Geographies > Parish boundary.
    • Designations > Scheduled Monuments.
    • Designations > Listed Buildings.
    Use Table of Contents for Colour mapping.
  18. ^ The cross is both a scheduled monument and a listed building
  19. ^ See Battle of Edington > Consequences.
  20. ^ The Watlington Viking Hoard.[18] .following Alfred's defeat of Guthrum's army at Edington in 878, Guthrum's army moved north to Cirencester in Southern Mercia where they based themselves for about a year. . .[18]
  21. ^ Some historians consider that Watling Street defined the western extent of the Danelaw.
  22. ^ The River Thames was an important navigation route for Danish migrant's who had crossed the North sea.
  23. ^ Akeman Street from St Albans to Cirencester.
  24. ^ The Watlington Viking Hoard.[18] .Guthrum's army moved in 879 from Cirencester to East Anglia. . .A large army could only have progressed along a limited number of routes. . .These were restricted to re-used Roman roads. . .One was a Roman road[w]. . .from Cirencester running to the north of Oxford and continuing to St Albans. . .[18]
  25. ^ See (Contents) > Local place names.
  26. ^ See Eadwig's Charter to Abingdon Abbey c.957 > Danes in Oxford.
  27. ^ Distance from Taston.
  28. ^ WiKtionary : Old Norse < Grímr >
    1. " a male given name, especially one of Óðinn's name ".
  29. ^ See Ditchley Park > Archaeology > . . .Grim's Ditch
  30. ^ WiKtionary : Old Norse < Grímr >
    1. " a male given name, especially one of Óðinn's name ".
  31. ^ See Grim's Ditch > Etymology
  32. ^ See Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum > Terms > . . .19th century map
  33. ^ The Early Middle Ages. . .It may be that Oxford was chosen for the meetings because of its neutral position, having ties with both Wessex and Mercia but being identified with neither. . .[21]
  34. ^ The map shows that the boundary south of Buckingham extended in a westerly direction as far as the River Cherwell, before heading north towards Banbury and Daventry.
  35. ^ The Danish territory shown on the map was divided north – south by a boundary line from Buckingham to The Wash.
    • North – Danish Mercia.
    • South – Kingdom of Guthrum.
  36. ^ The Danish controlled territory later became known as the Danelaw.
  37. ^ The Origins of Oxford. . . " The details of the West Saxon defence system are recorded in the Burghal Hidage " . . . " between 914 and 918 and includes the Mercian burh of Buckingham as well as Oxford " . . . " an earlier version of the 'hidage' which omitted Buckingham but included Oxford. " . . .[21]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e *"Survey of English Place-Names: Taston". University of Nottingham. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  2. ^ Burnham 2018, pp. 116.
  3. ^ *"Thor Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Oxfordshire". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ faerygirl (6 January 2011). "Thor Stone; Standing Stone / Menhir". The Modern Antiquarian. Julian Cope. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ Historic England. "Taston standing stone 12m north of Taston village cross (1008407)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  6. ^ Oliver 2012, pp. 119.
  7. ^ Oliver 2012, pp. 230–231.
  8. ^ "MAGiC MaP : Taston – Scheduled Monuments". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
  9. ^ "MAGiC MaP : Taston – Listed Buildings". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
  10. ^ "MAGiC MaP : Taston – Grims Ditch". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
  11. ^ "MAGiC MaP : Taston – Spelsbury Parish boundary". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
  12. ^ a b Historic England. "Cross (1251432)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  13. ^ a b Historic England. "Middle Farmhouse (1262715)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  14. ^ a b Historic England. "Barn Approximately 15 Metres South East of Middle Farmhouse (1251433)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  15. ^ a b Historic England. "The Firkins (1262714)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  16. ^ a b Historic England. "Memorial Fountain (1262769)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  17. ^ Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 776. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
  18. ^ a b c d Williams & Naylor 2016, pp. 29.
  19. ^ a b "MAGiC MaP : Dane Hill near Duns Tew". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
  20. ^ *"Nordic Names – Grim". Nordic Names. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  21. ^ a b Crossley & Elrington 1979, pp. 3–73.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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