Horn
Horn is the name of a deserted medieval village to the east of Exton. Since 2016 it has been part of the parish of Exton and Horn.
Just for once the place-name is not corrupted. It is the settlement on a horn-shaped piece of land. Horn was in Alstoe Hundred.
The surviving earthworks from R.F. Hartley's The Medieval Earthworks of Rutland published in 1983.
Horn appears in the Domesday survey but by 1376 the principal manor was deemed almost valueless. In 1384 it was noted that 'the whole village was then wasted and destroyed'. The implication is that the land had ceased to be used for arable and had been turned over to sheep pasture. In 1809 the parish is referred to as 'almost depopulated'.
A church dedicated to All Saints fell into disrepair before 1471 and was described as 'devastated' in 1539. However rectors were still appointed until 1832. Their installation ceremony was conducted under a thorn tree.
The site of the settlement was subsequently included in Exton Park.
Horn in 1884.
Because of the close proximity to the parish, the 1470 'Battle of Losecoat Field' during the War of the Roses was intially referred to as the 'Battle of Hornfield'.
Loads more information about Horn in the Victoria County History.
Horn Mill
About six hundred yards south of of the deserted medieval village of Horn (east of Exton) was Horn Mill. It is now 'Horn Mill Trout Farm'. If only more redundant watermills had been repurposed as trout farms!
Because of the proximity to Rutland Water and the breeding progamme for ospreys, this trout farm built hides for birdwatchers to see osprey fishing at unusually close quarters. They estimate that the ospreys take about one thousand trout a year. So an average of three a day. But the income from tickets to the hide makes that very profitable!
source
There's five historic photographs of Horn Mill online.
Victoria County History page for Horn.
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