Taston

---

title: "Taston" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hamlets-in-oxfordshire", "west-oxfordshire-district"] description: "Hamlet in Oxfordshire, England" topic_path: "general/hamlets-in-oxfordshire" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taston" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Hamlet in Oxfordshire, England ::

::data[format=table title="infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
official_name	Taston
static_image_name	The Standing Stone at Taston - geograph.org.uk - 975027.jpg
static_image_caption	Thor Stone (left foreground), with the
Medieval preaching cross beyond
coordinates
os_grid_reference	SP3621
label_position	bottom
civil_parish	Spelsbury
shire_district	West Oxfordshire
shire_county	Oxfordshire
region	South East England
country	England
constituency_westminster	Witney
post_town	Chipping Norton
postcode_district	OX7
postcode_area	OX
dial_code	01608
website
::

|official_name= Taston |static_image_name= The Standing Stone at Taston - geograph.org.uk - 975027.jpg |static_image_caption= Thor Stone (left foreground), with the Medieval preaching cross beyond |coordinates = |os_grid_reference= SP3621 |label_position= bottom |population= |population_ref= |civil_parish= Spelsbury |shire_district= West Oxfordshire |shire_county= Oxfordshire |region= South East England |country= England |constituency_westminster= Witney |post_town= Chipping Norton |postcode_district= OX7 |postcode_area= OX |dial_code= 01608 |website= Taston is a hamlet in Spelsbury civil parish, about 1.6 mi north of Charlbury and 4 mi southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

Taston is about 3 mi 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

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/The_"Preaching_Cross"_at_Taston,_Oxfordshire.jpg" caption="Medieval preaching cross: the steps, base and broken shaft survive"] ::

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 yd 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

Sources

• {{cite book |last1= Burnham |first1= Andy |title= The Old Stones |year= 2018 |publisher= Watkins Media Limited |isbn= 9781786781543 }}
• {{cite book|last1= Williams|first1= Gareth|last2= Naylor|first2= John |title= King Alfreds Coins, The Watlington Viking Hoard |year= 2016 |publisher= Ashmolean museum, University of Oxford |isbn= 978-1-910807-13-2 }}
• {{cite book |last1= Oliver |first1= Neil |author-link= Neil Oliver |title= Vikings; A History |year= 2012 |publisher= Phoenix |isbn= 978-1-7802-2282-0 }}
• {{cite book |editor1-last= Crossley |editor1-first= Alan |editor2-last= Elrington |editor2-first= C R |editor2-link= Christopher Elrington |year= 1979 |pages= 3–73 |publisher= British History Online |title= 'Medieval Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4 |url= https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol4/pp3-73 |access-date= 2 June 2023 }}

References

1. "Survey of English Place-Names: Taston". University of Nottingham.
2. {{harvnb. Burnham. 2018
3. "Thor Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Oxfordshire". [[The Megalithic Portal]].
4. faerygirl. (6 January 2011). "Thor Stone; Standing Stone / Menhir". [[Julian Cope]].
5. {{National Heritage List for England
6. (1974). "Oxfordshire". [[Penguin Books]].
7. {{NHLE
8. {{NHLE
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11. {{NHLE

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::