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Places to stay in Horton cum Studley
Horton's toponym is derived from the Old English horh-tun meaning "muddy" or "dirty place". The oldest known record of Horton is from the reign of Æthelred the Unready: a charter of 1005-11 that records its agricultural land as five hides. However, the Domesday Book of 1086 has no separate entry for Horton as it had been part of the manor of Beckley since before the Norman Conquest of England. Until the Norman conquest of England the manor of Beckley was one of many that belonged to Saxon Wigod, thegn of Wallingford. Thereafter ownership of Horton followed the same descent as that of Beckley. After the Norman conquest of England the Norman baron Robert D'Oyly acquired Wigod's estates by marriage and then passed a number of them to his brother-in-arms Roger d'Ivry. Beckley and Horton became part of the Honour of St. Valery in the 12th century, were held by the Earls of Cornwall in the 13th century, Hugh le Despenser and then The Black Prince in the 14th century and the Crown in the 15th century. Beckley and Horton passed from Princess Elizabeth via Sir Walter Mildmay in 1550 to Sir John Williams, whose descendants were titled Baron Norreys from 1572 and Earl of Abingdon from 1682. Beckley and Horton were broken up into lots and sold by Viscount Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon, in 1919.
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