The place-name Orston seems to contain an Old Englishpersonal name, Osica, with -ingtūn, a settlement called after, or connected with..., so probably, "farm/settlement connected with Osica". Some early spellings are Oschintone in 1086 ; Orskinton, 1242; Orston, 1284 and Horston in 1428. It lay in Bingham Wapentake until such units were abolished under the Local Government Act 1894. The population of Orston was 351 in 1801, 391 in 1821, and 439 in 1831. More detail on the village history and sources for it appears on the village website. There is a short description of the village in 1870–1872 in John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Orston farming showed a variant of the open-field system with four fields instead of three. An enclosure act was passed in 1793. A survey of Orston's present appearance and history as a conservation area was made in 2010.
Gypsum, brickworks and spa
There are still gypsum quarries in the area. Indeed Orston in earlier centuries was once primarily a mining village, and probably the most important source of gypsum in the East Midlands. According to the Nottinghamshire volume of the Victoria History of the Countries of England, the gypsum at Orston was the "finest in the Kingdom". The remains of several brickworks have also been identified. Mining subsidence has been a problem in some parts of the village, affecting also the church. A full account of the quarrying and mining in the village has appeared. The village had a brief 18th-century period as a medicinal spring for "hydrochondriac melancholy, scurvy, want of appetite, indigestion, stoppage of urine, obstruction of the bowels, ulcers in the lungs, and for spitting of blood", but there does not appear to have been appreciable commercial development of the spring.
Orston Primary School, occupying premises built in 1939, had 158 pupils aged four to eleven in 2018, equally divided between boys and girls. The 2010 full Ofsted report on the school rated it outstanding in all important respects. Its excellent 2013 performance figures eased slightly in most subjects.
Leisure
The village pub, the Durham Ox, doubles as a traditional restaurant from Tuesday to Sunday. There is also a delicatessen and café called The Limehaus, occupying the former post office. There are various sports teams, clubs and institutes active in the village. Many indoor events and meetings are held at the . There is a clay shooting ground in Bottesford Lane.
Transport
on the outskirts of the village provides only a skeleton service of one train in each direction per day. The nearest stations with regular services to Nottingham, Grantham and beyond are Bottesford and Aslockton. There are occasional weekday, daytime bus services to Nottingham, Bingham and nearby villages. The A52 trunk road between Nottingham and Grantham passes two miles south of the village. It is reached at Elton on the Hill, in a south-easterly direction at Bottesford, or in a westerly direction via Scarrington. Orston also lies on National Cycle Route 15.
Environment
The slow-running River Smite, which bounds the village on the western side, is 20 miles long. It is paralleled at Orston by the Northing and Bon Moor Drains. The Smite has its source at Holwell, Leicestershire and flows into the River Devon at Shelton. Orston Millennium Green, created for 2001 beside the Smite on donated land, has a mown area for recreation and other sections with various nature and wildlife preservation areas. It is surrounded by a footpath. There are playing fields off Spa Lane.
Famous people
In birth order:
Charles John Fynes Clinton, classical scholar, was appointed vicar of Orston in the 1820s.
William Morley, Methodist minister and historian in New Zealand, was born at Orston on 14 August 1842.
