A History of English Place Names and Where They Came From

by John Moss

Overview

The origin of the names of many English towns, hamlets and villages date as far back as Saxon times, when kings like Alfred the Great established fortified borough towns to defend against the Danes. A number of settlements were established and named by French Normans following the Conquest. Many are even older and are derived from Roman placenames. Some hark back to the Vikings who invaded our shores and established settlements in the eighth and ninth centuries.

Most began as simple descriptions of the location; some identified its founder, marked territorial limits, or gave tribal people a sense of their place in the grand scheme of things. Whatever their derivation, placenames are inextricably bound up in our history and they tell us a great deal about the place where we live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526722843
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

John Moss studied Fine Arts and English in Wolverhampton and Manchester Art Schools, before taking early retirement after teaching and lecturing in Art & Design. He founded a Graphic Design company in 1997. Retired at last, he began writing: a science fiction trilogy in 2013, and now his first foray into historical non-fiction.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Glossary ix

Part 1 Common English Placename Elements 1

Part 2 Migrations and Invasions 8

Part 3 Placename Origins 16

Part 4 Land Ownership and Tenancy 20

Part 5 The North-East 23

County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Yorkshire.

Part 6 The North-West 56

Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, and Sefton.

Part 7 The West Midlands 106

Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, and Worcestershire.

Part 8 The East Midlands 150

Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland.

Part 9 East Anglia 179

Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk.

Part 10 The Home Counties 212

Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire.

Part 11 Greater London 241

London Boroughs, including those formerly in the administrative Counties of Essex, Kent, Middlesex, and Surrey.

Part 12 The South-East 262

East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, and West Sussex.

Part 13 The South-West 286

Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.

Part 14 The British Islands 333

Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, and Isles of Scilly.

Part 15 Novel, Odd, and Unusual Placenames. 341

Bibliography 366

Index 368