Dorton
| Dorton | |
|---|---|
 St John the Baptist parish church | |
  Dorton Location withinBuckinghamshire | |
| Population | 166 (2011 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SP6814 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Aylesbury |
| Postcode district | HP18 |
| Dialling code | 01844 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
Dorton(orDourton) is a village andcivil parishin theAylesbury Valedistrict ofBuckinghamshire.It is in the western part of the county, about 5 miles (8 km) north of theOxfordshiremarket townofThame.
Manor
[edit]The villagetoponymis derived from theOld Englishfor "farm at a narrow pass". TheDomesday Bookof 1086 records it asDortone,and in the 13th century it wasDurtone.[2]
Before theNorman conquest of EnglandAlric, son of Goding, athegnofEdward the Confessor,held themanorof Dorton.[2]However, the Domesday Book records that by 1086 the Norman baronWalter Giffardheld it.[2]
Dorton Houseis aGrade I listedJacobeanmansion to the south of the village. It is now a preparatory school,Ashfold School.[3]
Parish church
[edit]TheChurch of England parish churchof SaintJohn the Evangelistwas originally achapel of easeto nearbyChilton.St. John's has been a parish in its own right since at least 1590.
Thenaveandchancelof the church building may be 12th century, as is the bowl of thefont.[2]There is a 13th-centurylancet windowin the nave.[4]The south porch was added in the 13th century, es evidenced by a blocked window of that date in its east wall.[2]In the 14th century theDecorated Gothicsouthaislewas added, the chancel arch was at least partly rebuilt and the present east window andpiscinawere added.[2]The presentstained glassin the east window is 15th century.[5]The present entrance arch to the porch was added in the 15th century, the base of the font is from the same century and thePerpendicular Gothicwindow in the south wall of the south aisle was added in about 1480.[2]
St. John's has three bells hung in a timber-framedbell-cot,plus a small Sanctus bell.[2]Bartholomew Atton ofBuckinghamcast the tenor bell in 1604 and Robert Atton cast the second bell in 1626.[2]John Taylor and Sonscast the treble bell in 1828,[2]presumably at the bell-foundry they then had at Oxford.
Economic and social history
[edit]Dorton Spa,achalybeatespring, is north of the village in Spa Wood. A large pump room and health spa were opened in about 1840[5]but due to lack of Royal patronage[citation needed](unlikeRoyal Leamington SpaandRoyal Tunbridge Wells) Dorton Spa declined. Little exists of it now.[5]
TheGreat Western Railwayhad the "Bicester cut-off"railway built through the parish in 1910. The line passes within a few yards of the village, and in 1937 the GWR openedDorton Haltto serve it.British Railwaysclosed the halt in 1963. The railway is now part of theChiltern Main Line.
Dorton was noted in the 1960s and 1970s for thetug-of-warteam the Dorton Dons.[citation needed]
References
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Page, W.H.,ed. (1927).A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 4.Victoria County History.pp. 45–48.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus(1973) [1966].Buckinghamshire.The Buildings of England.Harmondsworth:Penguin Books.pp. 110–111.ISBN0-14-071019-1.
- Reed, Michael (1979).Hoskins, W.G.;Millward, Roy (eds.).The Buckinghamshire Landscape.The Making of the English Landscape. London:Hodder & Stoughton.pp. 74, 127, 260.ISBN0-340-19044-2.
External links
[edit]
Media related toDortonat Wikimedia Commons
