Exton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Exton and Horn, in the county of Rutland, England. The population of the parish was 607 at the 2011 census.[3] On 1 April 2016 the parish was abolished and merged with Horn to form "Exton and Horn".[4][5]

Exton
Thatched cottages in Exton
Exton is located in Rutland
Exton
Exton
Location within Rutland
Area6.36 sq mi (16.5 km2[1]
Population600 (2001 Census)[2]
• Density94/sq mi (36/km2)
OS grid referenceSK924111
• London85 miles (137 km) SSE
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townOAKHAM
Postcode districtLE15
Dialling code01572
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Rutland
52°41′24″N 0°37′59″W / 52.690°N 0.633°W / 52.690; -0.633

The village

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The village's name means 'farm/settlement which has oxen'.[6]

The village includes a tree-planted green overlooked by the Fox and Hounds pub. Close to the green is the war memorial to the dead of Exton and Whitwell and to relatives of the Earl of Gainsborough; the names include Tom Cecil Noel MC and Bar and Maurice Dease VC. The memorial was designed by Alfred Young Nutt.[7][8]

In the south of the parish towards Rutland Water is Barnsdale Gardens which were created by Geoff Hamilton of the BBC television series Gardeners' World.

Further south, on the north shore of Rutland Water, stands what was the Barnsdale country house and is now the Barnsdale Hall Hotel and Country Club. Barnsdale was a large country house, built in 1890 as a hunting lodge for Earl Fitzwilliam by architect E. J. May. It is a Grade II listed building.[9]

Exton Park

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Fort Henry in Exton Park

Exton Park is a large country estate which has been home to the Noel family (Earls of Gainsborough) for over four centuries. The present Exton Hall was built in the 19th century close to the ruins of the original Tudor mansion which had burnt down in 1810. The romantic Fort Henry, a pleasure-house in the elegant late-eighteenth-century Gothick style,[10] overlooks lakes formed by the North Brook.

Church of St Peter and St Paul

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Church of St Peter and St Paul, Exton, Rutland

The large Church of England parish church St Peter & St Paul lies within the park and contains a collection of monuments including work by Joseph Nollekens. It is a impressive medieval parish church, built in the 13th and 14th centuries. The church is a Grade I listed building.[11]

There is a fine marble monument by Grinling Gibbons, dating from 1685, showing Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden, with his fourth wife, Elizabeth Bertie, and carvings of his 19 children.[12] In 1954, the tomb was the subject of a design by John Piper, later adapted as a textile design by David Whitehead Ltd.[13]

Other monuments in the church include:

 
The Harington monument

The church spire was struck by lightning in 1843, causing a fire that melted the roof, shattered the windows, and destroyed the west end of the church. It was subsequently rebuilt by J. L. Pearson in 1852/3.

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References

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  1. ^ "A vision of Britain through time". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  2. ^ "Rutland Civil Parish Populations" (PDF). Rutland County Council. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  3. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Bulletin of Change to local authority arrangements 2015" (PDF). Lgbce. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Community Governance Review: Parish Area of Horn" (PDF). rutland.gov. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  6. ^ http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Rutland/Exton%[dead link]
  7. ^ "Exton and Whitwell War Memorial, Exton". Rutland Remembers. 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Exton and Whitwell War Memorial" Grantham Journal Saturday 7 October 1922, page 11
  9. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1361547)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  10. ^ Historic England. "Fort Henry (Grade II*) (1073724)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  11. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1177714)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  12. ^ "TOMB OF VISCOUNT CAMPDEN AT EXTON CHURCH". World Monuments Fund.
  13. ^ "John Piper: the fabric of modernism". Pallant House Gallery. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
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