SHILTON

Shilton is an attractive little village with stone cottages with stone roofs in the Cotswold style. In the centre of the village there is a ford across the Shill Brook and the stream forms an attractive rush-lined duck pond. An arched stone foot-bridge crosses the ford and near the pond is an old pump and a well.

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names the village name means 'a farmstead on a shelf or ledge' and, given that much of the village is overlooking the Shill valley, this is would appear quite likely. However there is also conjecture that the village is named after the Shill Brook itself.

The 12th century parish church, the Church of the Holy Rood, sits on a the hill overlooking the village. The nave, south aisle and arcade are Norman, built in about 1150. The present Early English Gothic chancel was built in about 1250, and the bell tower in the 15th century. For information about the Church of the Holy Rood click here.

Shilton also has a small Baptist chapel.

Shilton is about a mile and a half north-west of Carterton, just off the B4020.