Description
Horton, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands 4A miles SSW of Cranborne, 6 NNE of Wim-bome, and 3f from Verwood station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Wimborne; money order and telegraph office, Witchampton. Acreage of the civil parish, 2761; population, 397; of the ecclesiastical, 813. The manor belongs to the Earl of Shaftesbury, A Benedictine priory, a; cell to Sherborne Abbey, was founded at Horton in 970 by Orgar. A circular trench, several barrows, and traces of a chapel, are here. The living is a vicarage, united with that of Woodlands, in the diocese of Salisbury; value,, £150 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Shaftesbury. The church was rebuilt in 1720 and is a peculiarly-shaped structure,. with a spire.
Parish Church
The church of St. Wolfhilda is an edifice of brick and stone, consisting of chancel, nave, vestry and a tower, with spire, containing one bell: the tombs include one to Sir Giles de Braose, d. 1305, and his wife : in the vestry is a monument to the Hon. Henry Hastings, second son of George, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, d. Oct. 5, 1650, and Dorothy, his wife. d. Dec. 4, 1658: the organ and choir stalls were added in 1891: the chalice and paten date from 1610: there are 200 sittings.
The register dates from the year 1563.
