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{{Short description|Hamlet in Oxfordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{infobox UK place
|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<br>Medieval preaching cross beyond
|coordinates = {{coord|51.904|-1.474|display=inline,title}}
|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 (UK Parliament constituency)|Witney]]
|post_town= [[Chipping Norton]]
|postcode_district= OX7
|postcode_area= OX
|dial_code= 01608
|website= {{URL|http://www.spelsbury.org.uk}}
}}
{{Distinguish|Hexestrol dicaprylate}}
'''Taston''' is a [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] in [[Spelsbury]] [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]], about {{convert|1.6|mi|km|1}} north of [[Charlbury]] and {{convert|4|mi|km}} southeast of [[Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire]].

Taston is about {{convert|3|mi|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.<ref>{{cite web|title= Survey of English Place-Names: Taston |publisher= University of Nottingham |url=  http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/Oxfordshire/Spelsbury/53286e1fb47fc40beb000528-Taston |access-date= 2 May 2023}}</ref>

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.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

==Thor Stone==
The Thor Stone is a [[wikt:monolith#English| monolithic]] standing stone that stands about seven-foot tall in the centre of Taston.<ref>{{harvnb|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..."</ref> 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.<ref name= Mega_Portal>{{cite web |title= Thor Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Oxfordshire |url= https://www.megalithic.co.uk/search.php?query=thor+stone |publisher= [[The Megalithic Portal]] |access-date= 2 May 2023 | quote=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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Thor Stone; Standing Stone / Menhir |author= faerygirl  |date= 6 January 2011 |work= The Modern Antiquarian |publisher= [[Julian Cope]]  |url= http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/93038/folklore/thor_stone.html  |access-date= 2 May 2023}}</ref> It is a [[scheduled monument]].<ref name= List_1008407>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1008407 |desc= Taston standing stone 12m north of Taston village cross |accessdate= 2 May 2023}}</ref>

==Listed buildings==
[[File:The "Preaching Cross" at Taston, Oxfordshire.jpg|thumb|right|Medieval preaching cross: the steps, base and broken shaft survive]]

At the centre of Taston are the base and broken shaft of a [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] [[preaching cross]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |title=Oxfordshire |year=1974 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |page=776}}</ref> It is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade II* listed building]].<ref name= List_1251432>{{NHLE |num= 1251432 |desc=Cross |accessdate=27 February 2012}}</ref>

Middle Farmhouse is a house built of coursed [[Rubble masonry|rubble]] in the 17th and early 18th centuries.<ref name= List_1262715>{{NHLE |num= 1262715 |desc=Middle Farmhouse |accessdate=27 February 2012}}</ref> Part of the roof is of [[Taynton Limestone Formation|Stonesfield slate]]. The farmstead has a four-[[Bay (architecture)|bay]] barn that was built of stone early in the 18th century and altered in 1884.<ref name= List_1251433>{{NHLE |num= 1251433 |desc=Barn Approximately 15 Metres South East of Middle Farmhouse |accessdate=27 February 2012}}</ref>

The Firkins is a small house near Thorsbrook Spring. It is built of rubble and probably dates from early in the 18th century.<ref name= List_1262714>{{NHLE |num= 1262714 |desc=The Firkins |accessdate=27 February 2012}}</ref>

At Thorsbrook Spring, about {{convert|140|yd}} southeast of the preaching cross, is a [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] memorial fountain. It was built in 1862 in memory of Henrietta, Viscountess Dillon,<ref name= List_1262769>{{NHLE |num= 1262769 |desc=Memorial Fountain |accessdate=27 February 2012}}</ref> wife of [[Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon]].

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===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= [[Orion Publishing Group|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 }}

==External links==
*[https://www.megalithic.co.uk/search.php?query=thor+stone Megalithic Portal Map Search – Thor Stone ] [[The Megalithic Portal]]
*[https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/579/thor_stone.html The Modern Antiquarian – Thor Stone ] [[The Modern Antiquarian]]

{{West Oxfordshire}}

[[Category:Hamlets in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:West Oxfordshire District]]