Horsington, Somerset

Horsington is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated 4mi south of Wincanton and 1mi north of Templecombe in the South Somerset district. The village lies on the edge of Horsington Marsh, part of the Blackmore Vale. In 2011 the population of the Parish, which includes the adjoining hamlets of Peckholdsash and Wilkin Throop and the village of South Cheriton was 571.HistoryThe name of the village means the settlement of the horse keepers.The cross on the village green was erected in 1284 to mark the site of the market. It is built of hamstone with an octagonal shaft on a stepped circular base.The parish was part of the hundred of Horethorne.Horsington Manor was owned by the Gowens family from the 16th century until 1653, and from 1748 by Matthew Spencer who built the manor house. Spencer's son sold it to the Bailward family. Large quantities of documents relating to Horsington Manor have been donated to the Somerset Record Office for safe-keepingIn 1990s, Ardon Lyon, a philosophy professor from London, purchased Horsington House, in a state of substantial neglect, disrepair and deferred maintenance. Prior to Professor Lyon's purchase, the owners had used Horsington House as a hotel. Professor Lyon spent the better part of a decade repairing and restoring Horsington House and its out-buildings (such as the carriage house) to their original state. He subdivided Horsington House, and the carriage house, into several flats and sold them to individual purchasers.

Tags: Landmark & Historical Place