HORTON, a village and a parish in Wimborne district, Dorset. The village stands 4½ miles SSW of Cranborne, and 6 NNE of Wimborne r. station; and has a post office under Wimborne.—The parish comprises 2, 740 acres. Real property, £2, 201. Pop., 431. Houses, 95. The manor belongs to the Earl of Shaftesbury. Horton Park is a chief residence. A lofty brick tower, erected by Mr. Sturt of More-Critchell about the beginning of the present century, stands on a hill near the village, and command fine views of the surrounding country and the Isle of Wight. A Benedictine priory, a cell to Sherborne abbey, was founded at Horton, in 970, by Earl Orgar. A circular trench, several barrows, and traces of a chapel are here. The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacy of Woodlands, in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £150.* Patron, the Earl of Shaftesbury. The church was rebuilt in 1720; and is a peculiarly shaped structure, with a spire. There is a free school.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))