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Taston
Thor Stone (left foreground), with the Medieval preaching cross beyond
TastonLocation within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SP3621
Civil parish	Spelsbury
District	West Oxfordshire
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Chipping Norton
Postcode district	OX7
Dialling code	01608
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Witney
Website	Spelsbury Parish Council
List of places UK England Oxfordshire 51°54′14″N 1°28′26″W / 51.904°N 1.474°W / 51.904; -1.474

Taston is a hamlet in Spelsbury civil parish, about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) north of Charlbury and 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

Taston is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the Akeman Street Roman road.

Name

The survey of English Place-Names records Taston as Thorstan in 1278–9, Thorstane in 1316, Torstone in 1492 and Taston in 1608–9.

The name element Thor is a reference to the Norse God Thor. The name element stan is from Old English stān (stone ). The toponym might be Thor stone or Thor's stone.

Thor Stone

The Thor Stone is a monolithic standing stone that stands about seven-foot tall in the centre of Taston. It is a menhir, meaning that it was manhandled there by humans. A local myth maintains that the stone portrays the image of a thunderbolt, and that it was created by a thunderbolt from Thor himself. It is a scheduled monument.

Listed buildings

At the centre of Taston are the base and broken shaft of a Medieval preaching cross. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Middle Farmhouse is a house built of coursed rubble in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Part of the roof is of Stonesfield slate. The farmstead has a four-bay barn that was built of stone early in the 18th century and altered in 1884.

The Firkins is a small house near Thorsbrook Spring. It is built of rubble and probably dates from early in the 18th century.

At Thorsbrook Spring, about 140 yards (130 m) southeast of the preaching cross, is a Victorian Gothic Revival memorial fountain. It was built in 1862 in memory of Henrietta, Viscountess Dillon, wife of Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon.

References

Citations

1. "Survey of English Place-Names: Taston". University of Nottingham. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
2. Burnham 2018, pp. 116: "...a hefty seven foot stone that leans dramatically into a garden wall in the centre of the village. One story goes that it was a thunderbolt thrown by Thor himself..."
3. "Thor Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Oxfordshire". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 2 May 2023. An impressive seven-foot tall standing stone,. . .told in local folklore to have been a thunderbolt cast down from the skies by Thor. . .first recorded in the late thirteenth century in the survey of the Chadlington hundred
4. faerygirl (6 January 2011). "Thor Stone; Standing Stone / Menhir". The Modern Antiquarian. Julian Cope. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
5. Historic England. "Taston standing stone 12m north of Taston village cross (1008407)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
6. Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 776. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
7. Historic England. "Cross (1251432)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
8. Historic England. "Middle Farmhouse (1262715)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
9. Historic England. "Barn Approximately 15 Metres South East of Middle Farmhouse (1251433)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
10. Historic England. "The Firkins (1262714)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
11. Historic England. "Memorial Fountain (1262769)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 February 2012.

Sources

• Burnham, Andy (2018). The Old Stones. Watkins Media Limited. ISBN 9781786781543.
• Williams, Gareth; Naylor, John (2016). King Alfreds Coins, The Watlington Viking Hoard. Ashmolean museum, University of Oxford. ISBN 978-1-910807-13-2.
• Oliver, Neil (2012). Vikings; A History. Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-7802-2282-0.
• Crossley, Alan; Elrington, C R, eds. (1979). 'Medieval Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4. British History Online. pp. 3–73. Retrieved 2 June 2023.

External links

• Megalithic Portal Map Search – Thor Stone The Megalithic Portal
• The Modern Antiquarian – Thor Stone The Modern Antiquarian

v t e The District of West Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Council elections District Council elections Banbury County Constituency Bicester and Woodstock County Constituency Witney County Constituency
Towns	Burford Signet Upton Carterton Charlbury Chipping Norton Southcombe Witney Cogges Madley Park Woodstock
Large villages	Aston, Cote, Shifford and Chimney Aston Cote Shifford Chimney Bampton Lower Haddon Weald Brize Norton Ducklington Enstone Church Enstone Neat Enstone Chalford Cleveley Fulwell Gagingwell Lidstone Radford Eynsham Barnard Gate Freeland Hailey New Yatt Hanborough Church Hanborough Long Hanborough Milton-under-Wychwood Minster Lovell North Leigh East End Wilcote Shipton-under-Wychwood Standlake Brighthampton Steeple Barton Middle Barton Stonesfield
Other civil parishes (component villages and hamlets)	Alvescot Ascott-under-Wychwood Ascott d'Oyley Ascott Earl Asthall Asthall Leigh Worsham Black Bourton Bladon Blenheim Broadwell Bruern Cassington Worton Chadlington Chastleton Chilson Shorthampton Churchill Clanfield Combe Cornbury and Wychwood Cornbury Wychwood Cornwell Crawley Curbridge Fawler Fifield Filkins and Broughton Poggs Filkins Broughton Poggs Finstock Fulbrook Glympton Grafton and Radcot Grafton Radcot Great Tew Hardwick-with-Yelford Hardwick Yelford Heythrop Dunthrop Holwell Idbury Bould Foscot Kelmscott Kencot Kiddington with Asterleigh Asterleigh Kiddington Over Kiddington Kingham Langford Leafield Lew Little Faringdon Little Tew Lyneham Northmoor Over Norton Ramsden Mount Skippett Rollright Great Rollright Little Rollright Rousham Salford Sandford St. Martin Ledwell Sarsden Shilton South Leigh Spelsbury Dean Taston Stanton Harcourt Swerford Swinbrook and Widford Swinbrook Widford Tackley Taynton Westcott Barton Westwell Wootton Dornford Hordley Worton Nether Worton Over Worton
Former districts and boroughs	Chipping Norton Rural District Municipal Borough of Chipping Norton Witney Urban District Witney Rural District Municipal Borough of Woodstock Woodstock Rural District
Former constituencies	Oxfordshire County Constituency Woodstock Borough Constituency Mid Oxfordshire or Woodstock County Constituency Henley County Constituency Mid Oxfordshire County Constituency
List of parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire List of places in Oxfordshire List of civil parishes in Oxfordshire

• Hamlets in Oxfordshire
• West Oxfordshire District