Carterton may well have been the
site of earlier settlements. Bronze Age flint tools have been found
in the area and a round barrow, now levelled, suggests that there
may have been an Iron Age settlement near the crossroads. Roman
settlements have been found at Alvescot and Kencot.
Much of what is now the northern part of the town was owned by the
Moleyns family from at least 1369, but in 1429 William Lord Moleyns
was killed at the siege of Orleans and the land passed to the Hungerford
family. During the mediaeval period the main road through Carterton
was one of the most important in the country, taking trains of packhorses
laden with Cotswold wool over Radcot Bridge and on to Southampton
for export to the weaving centres of Europe.
In the 1770s the land was acquired by the Duke of Marlborough. Rock
Farm was built in about 1823 as a typical Georgian farm complex,
with a yard in front and two matching threshing barns, one of which
is now the Catholic Church. The pattern of the present settlement
dates from 1894 when part of the estate was sold to Homesteads Limited
whose director was William Carter.
The land was divided into one-acre plots and sold for £20
an acre with bungalows costing from £120. Many of the settlers
were retired soldiers and ‘refugees’ from the towns.
Carterton soon made its name in the market gardening world. Black
grapes from Frenchester Nurseries and the famous Carterton tomatoes
were sold at Covent Garden Market. There are still a few of the
original tin or asbestos settlers’ bungalows in the town.
The village flourished, with a tin mission church and the first
large building - The Emporium - being built in 1911 with an upstairs
room for meetings and dances. This later became the Co-op, then
The Golden Eagle, and is now The Aviator.
Construction work on the airfield began in 1935. Wartime saw the
rapid growth of the base. Following a raid which destroyed 46 aircraft,
the remainder were dispersed round the village and one hangar still
exists as a garage on the Alvescot Road. From 1950 to 1965 the camp
was to be the home of the USAF bomber wings. The RAF returned in
1965 and undertook a large building programme making RAF Brize Norton
the main transport base in the country.
With the growth of the village, the small mission church at the
central crossroads was replaced in 1963 by the church of St. John
the Evangelist. The link with the mother church of St. Mary’s
at Black Bourton was kept alive by the donation of one of the bells
from the tower. This was made by H. Knight of Reading and is dated
1619.
The town is now undergoing significant development, especially in
the north east quadrant where a development of 1500 homes is nearing
completion. The Community Centre and a number of shops are at the
heart of this new development.
In 2000 the town celebrated its centenary and in 2004 was awarded
a blue plaque commemorating William Carter’s role as the founder
of Carterton.
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