The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland

Why does Britain have such bizarre place names?

(Prototype credit:

Graham Hardy/Alamy

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Bishop's Itchington, Westley Waterless: there is plenty to smiling or snigger at on a map of the UK. Only in fact, these names reveal a hidden – and fascinating – history.

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The drive from the town of Much Wenlock to Ashby-de-la-Zouch is 60 miles eastward across the English Midlands. Once you have crossed the River Severn and passed the Wrekin rising to the left – the last of the Shropshire Hills – you join the M54 at the Wrekin Retail Park. At Featherstone, yous have a choice: n and and so east past Lichfield and Tamworth, or southeast by Walsall, Wednesbury and Birmingham, south of Sutton Coldfield, and northeast to cross the River Tame. Either way, once you're past Appleby Magna and crossing the River Mease, you're virtually there. Be sure not to brand a wrong turn and end up in Donisthorpe, Newton Burgoland or Snarestone.

And but similar that, in an hour and a quarter, yous will take covered the great sweep of British history: from the Celts through the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, and Normans to modern times – all as displayed in Britain's identify names. (You can check out our map, not meant to be exhaustive, of some of Britain'due south stranger names at the lesser of this page).

Some towns have such strange names that no 1 tin exist sure what their origins are, like the hamlet of Pity Me exterior Durham (Credit: Duncan Hale-Sutton/Alamy)

British history didn't start with the Celtic peoples (Stonehenge didn't build itself, after all). Just the Celtic tribes that arrived during the Atomic number 26 Age, which started around 800BC, were the commencement to requite a clear linguistic contribution that has lasted to modern times. They came in groups from the continent; those in the north spoke Goidelic (the source of Gaelic), while southerners spoke Brittonic.

Fifty-fifty today, many hills and rivers have kept their Celtic names – especially in the north and west. The Wrekin takes its name from Celtic. Then do near two-thirds of England'south rivers: Avon, Derwent, Severn, Tees, Trent, Tyne – and Itchen, which later lent its proper noun to the town Bishop'southward Itchington. (Some of these names may even have come up from the people who were here before the Celts). Often the names just meant 'river' or 'water', and sometimes no one knows what they originally meant; in the Oxford Lexicon of English Place-Names, AD Mills calls Severn "an ancient pre-English language river name of doubtful etymology". The River Tame, which we cross on our trip to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, comes from the Celtic for 'dark ane' or 'river' – as does the River Thames.

This view from Wenlock Edge, located near Much Wenlock in the Midlands, takes in Easthope, Ape Dale, Caer Caradoc and The Long Mynd (Credit: David Lyons/Alamy)

At that place is less Celtic influence in the s and east largely cheers to the Anglo-Saxons. When they invaded in the 6th Century AD, they pushed the Britons to the edges and into the hills. Those who stayed in England were gradually assimilated, rather like the name of the town nosotros first our drive in, Much Wenlock. It gets its Much is from Anglo-Saxon mycel, meaning 'keen' or 'much'. Wenlock comes from Celtic wininicas, 'white area', and the Anglo-Saxon loca, 'place'.

Fighting words

The Romans invaded U.k. too, even before the Anglo-Saxons, starting time trying in 55 BC but at last succeeding in AD 43. Simply their linguistic influence, like their culture, left less of a mark: they built towns and garrison outposts, merely they never truly made Uk their domicile. Roman contributions to British place names come mainly through their Latinisation of pre-Roman names. A Celtic name that had been rendered by earlier Greek visitors as Pretanniké became the Roman Britannia; an ancient name of obscure meaning became Londinium. The other major Roman contribution comes from the Latin castra ('fort'). Taken into Anglo-Saxon, it became ceaster ('town, city', pronounced rather like 'che-aster') – which has mutated to chester (Chester, Manchester), caster (Lancaster, Doncaster) and cester (Leicester, Cirencester).

Unlike the Romans, however, the Anglo-Saxons did non come to establish an outpost or colony. They came to move in. The Anglo-Saxons did build forts – the discussion burh ('fortified place') gives Britain all of its –burghs and –burys – simply what they actually wanted to exercise was farm, build towns and acquit trade. If they encountered a forest (called a wald, wold, weald, holt or shaw) or a grove (graf, at present –grove and –grave), they might clear it to brand a leah (at present –ly, –lay, –ley and –leigh). They would enclose state to make a worthig (–worth), ham (the source of 'home'), or tun (now –ton and the source of 'town'). Since ham was more common in the earlier years and tun after on, there are more –hams in the south, where the Anglo-Saxons first came, and more than –tons in the north and west.

The name of this Dorset hamlet has Anglo-Saxon (and unfortunate) roots: it stems from the town's stream, which once was used every bit an open up sewer (Credit: Dorset Media Service/Alamy)

The Anglo-Saxons also liked to name things after themselves. The suffix –ingas (now shortened to –ing(south)) referred to the family and followers of some personage: for example, Hæsta's folk settled at Hastings. Many a ham and tun was likewise named for a person, such as Birmingham, the ham of Beorma'southward people (Beormingas). They also named geographical features for themselves, like valleys (denu) such as Rottingdean (the valley of Rota's clan). And, before converting to Christianity, they named some places after their gods – Wednesbury is named afterwards Woden.

Then the Scandinavians arrived. They started in the eighth Century with raids: Danes from the east and Norsemen, coming effectually Scotland past sea, from the northwest. In the mid-9th Century, they staged a full-scale invasion and began to settle in the areas they controlled. At the height of Scandinavian power in Britain, they controlled an area known as the Danelaw that covered most of England northward and east of a line from Liverpool to the Thames – a line you cross at Watling Street (an ancient road) equally you lot drive northeast toward Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

As well equally oddly-named towns, Britain has streets like York's Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, which may come from Norse for 'Neither ane affair nor the other' (Credit: Paul Rushton/Alamy)

Ashby, like Appleby, bears the quintessential mark of a Danish identify name: –by, pregnant 'farmhouse' or 'village'. Both, however, also bear the marks of the Anglo-Saxons who where at that place showtime: the apple and ash trees. Also from the Danes came both (now booth), pregnant 'cattle shelter'; thorp, meaning 'satellite subcontract', now mostly with an excrescent e as in Donisthorpe; toft, meaning 'homestead'; and thwait, meaning 'clearing, meadow, or paddock' – now too with that unnecessary east.

French connection

In 1066, the Normans came: Frenchmen, many of whom were descended from alloyed Viking invaders of France. William took over the government and gave ownership of many places to knights who had supported him. Ashby was given to the de la Zuche family; Newton ('new town or enclosed settlement') was given to the Burgilons (now Newton Burgoland). The invasion also led to French versions of English language originals, such equally Rievaulx, translated from Ryedale. There are pure French names that later were shaped past English influence, such equally Beamish from boyfriend mes ('beautiful mansion'), Bewdley from fellow lieu ('cute place') and Ridgemont from rouge mont ('red hill'). The Normans' scribes, educated in Latin, also gave Latin additions such as Appleby Magna and Lyme Regis – and fifty-fifty the occasional full proper noun, such every bit Pontefract (pons fractus, 'cleaved bridge').

But the Norman French did not settle in with the aforementioned comfort as the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians, and certainly not in the same numbers. The commoners – made up of Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians and remaining Celts – kept speaking English, which was still evolving and came to add many French words.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch may in one case have been the 'ash tree farmhouse belonging to the Norman de la Zuche family', only it is as English every bit market towns come up (Credit: Ian Dagnall/Alamy)

In time, English language again became the linguistic communication of dominion. The court, which had increasingly intermarried with English speakers, resumed speaking English in the 14th Century; parliament returned to it in the 15th Century. Ultimately, the stubbornness of the Anglo-Saxon language conquered in the end. How else could a 's-town coalfield' become Sutton Coldfield? Moisture clearings (water leas) at the west clearing (west leah) become Westley Waterless? A muddied place (slohtre) plow to Slaughter (Upper and Lower)?

And then it is that you can, in 60 miles, become from the Celtic hills, through the Anglo-Saxon and sometime Celtic towns, across the pre-Celtic, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon rivers, past faint traces of the Romans, cross into Danish territory, and find the French nobility.

All in one language: English.

This story is a function of BBC Great britain – a series focused on exploring this extraordinary isle, one story at a fourth dimension. Readers outside of the United kingdom tin can see every BBC Britain story by heading to the Britain homepage; you also tin encounter our latest stories by post-obit us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Source: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160309-why-does-britain-have-such-bizarre-place-names

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