Exton, Hampshire

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Exton is a small village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district in Hampshire, England. It sits in the South Downs National Park, on the west bank of the River Meon, just north of Corhampton. It is about two miles north of Droxford and five miles north-east of Bishop's Waltham.

The name Exton first appeared in 940 as East Seaxnatune, meaning “farmstead of the East Saxons.” The parish lies in the Meon Valley with higher ground on both sides of the downs. Old Winchester Hill is to the east, and the southern part of Beacon Hill (shared with Warnford) is to the west. The South Downs Way long-distance path runs through the parish from east to west. The A32 road and the Meon Valley Railway footpath cross north–south.

Exton has many ancient sites, including a Mesolithic flint working site, Bronze Age bowl barrows, and the Iron Age fort at Old Winchester Hill. There are also Roman and Dark Age sites and the site of the medieval village of Lomer.

The parish church is St Peter and St Paul, dating from the 13th century and heavily restored in the 19th century. In 1892, stained-glass windows by Charles Spooner were added in the Arts and Crafts style.

Exton has remained a small community for over two centuries. The population was 224 in 1801, 299 in 1901, 230 in 2001, and 203 at the 2011 Census. The village had a shop and post office in the 1950s, but the shop closed in the 1960s. The main community building today is the church and the Shoe Inn public house.