Denton (next-Wootton) comes from the Old English ‘denu’ meaning a ‘valley’ with ‘tūn’
as an ‘enclosure, a farmstead, village’; therefore a ‘valley farm/settlement’. The
Domesday Book records Denton as Danetone.
Denton parish church is a Grade; II listed building, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene.
There is some documentary evidence to suggest the Saxons first built the church,
although physical indications suggest the 13th century. An unknown founder cast and
hung three bells in the 15th century. In 1800, Edward Hasted described the Denton
church as consisting of ‘one isle and a chancel, having a square tower at the west
end, in which there are three bells. This church, though small, is neat’. Other than
rebuilding the east end in 1909, the church has received little attention.
