Charlton Horethorne | |
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Manor Farm House |
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Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul |
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Charlton Horethorne shown within Somerset | |
Population | 591 (2011) |
OS grid reference | ST665235 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SHERBORNE |
Postcode district | DT9 |
Dialling code | 01963 |
Police | Avon and Somerset |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
EU Parliament | South West England |
UK Parliament | |
Charlton Horethorne is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated five miles north-east of Sherborne and five miles south-west of Wincanton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 591.
The village lies on the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester.
Charlton Horethorne in the 21st century is a village with successful businesses, a primary school and a village hall that was purchased in 1923 from the Army as a memorial to the fallen in the First World War. Despite its age and the fact that it was previously used as a wooden mess hall, it is used on a frequent and regular basis by a wide range of groups and activities.
The village was originally known just as Charlton, meaning "the farmers settlement" and then known as Charlton Kanville by 1225. In 1084 Horethorn was added coming from "Hareturna" meaning "grey thornbush".
Evidence of early human occupation of the parish is provided by three Bronze-Age barrows and a possible Iron-Age camp on the escarpment near Sigwells, an area to the west of the village where Mesolithic and Romano-British material has also been found. Around 950 the manor belonged to Wynflaed (d. c. 950), and may have passed to her daughter Aethelflaed. It was held by Vitel in 1066 and, by the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, by Robert son of Gerold (d. 1102), who paid an annual rent of 100 cheeses. In 1439 it was bought by Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, who gave the manor to the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester in 1445.