Village Maps

 Parish Boundary

Cemex land on Welley Road and Horton Gardens (Datchet Road)

Horton and Wraysbury drains

Horton Bridleways 4 and 5

Parish Boundary (pre reservoir)

Details of St Michael's Church works

Datchet Village Society have a large scale map which covers Datchet and some of Horton from 1868: details are here: Ordnance Survey 1868 large-scale map (datchethistory.org.uk)

Rights of Way (2015)

Parish History

 

It is recorded that one John Berkyn, who died in 1458, was the fourth Provost of Eton College. This Provost was of celebrity in his day, and his merit was strenuously and successfully to oppose the union of Eton College with Windsor College, proposed by King Edward IV.

To the east of the village is Berkyn Manor, which stands in a small park, was built about the middle of the 19th century on the site of an old house, supposed to have been that rented by Milton's father in 1632, and pulled down at the end of the 18th century with the exception of a red brick dovecote.

A large elm tree was planted on the village green in 1726. It was planted to commemorate the death of the son of John Ashton, then the Innholder (landlord) of the Crown Inn, who was accidentally killed by the fall of the maypole on this spot.

The Elizabethan mansion known as Place House which was adjacent to the south side of the church tower, having been allowed to fall into decay, was taken down in 1785.

Horton parish was inclosed by Act of Parliament in 1799. The award map allows for three gravel and clay pits and 8 acres of land for the poor and for cottage allotments, and 260 acres for the lord of the manor.

The old road from Horton to Wraysbury was closed in 1800. The remains of the road now roughly follow the path of Park Lane.

It is recorded that the Public House, the Five Bells, was let by the church to a George Taylor in 1832 for the sum of £29 per year.

The church stands on the south side of the village street in a large churchyard, where there are two ancient yew trees.

Milton wrote his earlier poems at Horton, where he lived for six years. The impressions which the scenery of the neighbourhood produced upon his mind may be found in l'Allegro and II Penseroso. The poet's mother died at Horton in 1637 and was buried in the parish church. Recently, in 2008, there were civic and parish functions in Horton to commemorate 400 years since his birth.

John Milton

(9 Dec 1608 – 8 Nov 1674) was an English poet, author, polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England.

He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica.

Milton lived in Horton between 1632 and 1638.

On 11 November 2008 Deputy Mayor Cllr Catherine Bursnall unveiled signs in Stanwell Road highlighting the poet’s connection with the village.

About the Parish

 

The village of Horton lies in the central part of the Thames Valley on a broad, flat floodplain east of the River Thames and between Windsor to the West and Heathrow to the East. The parish has developed from farming settlements and has grown over time as people migrated from London.

Horton dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, listed as "Hortune" (believed to be derived from "ort" or "wort" for herbs and vegetable, and "tun" for and enclosed garden). A number of historical landmarks include The Old Rectory, Horton Lodge, The Cedars, Brookfield, Milton's Cottage and St Michael's Church. 

It has been recorded that a foundry located at the end of Coppermill Road was the source for the copper that made the famous Copper Horse at the end of the Long Walk from Windsor Castle. A number of historical houses can still be found in the village, including the Grade II listed Old Rectory, believed to have been built at the end of the 16th Century/early 17th Century.

Perhaps the most significant landmark today is the 12th Century church of St Michael's, with its Norman arch over the north door. Indeed, the name most associated with the village is that of poet John Milton (1608-74), whose family rented Berkyn Manor, a house that belonged to Sir John Egerton between 1632 and 1640. Milton wrote many of the literary greats, including Comus, Il Penseroso and L'Allegro, whilst living in Horton. The chancel of St Michael's also contains the grave of Milton's mother Sara, and a 19th century stained glass window which commemorates Milton's poem Paradise Lost.

Through the Horton parish flows the Colne Brook which runs to the Thames from the River Colne

The agricultural floodplain that once lay south of Horton was mined for gravel during the post-war period and later filled with water, forming large artificial water storage reservoirs, which result in restricting expansion of development. This network of mature gravel pits is now used as lakes for emergency water supplies and recreational purposes; mainly angling, sailing and bird watching. Both Horton and its neighbour village of Wraysbury were transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire in 1974.