A History of English Place Names and Where They Came From

by John Moss

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, British Literature, Linguistics

296 pages, Hardcover

Published June 19, 2020

About the author

John Moss writes mysteries because nothing brings life into focus like the murder of strangers. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006 in recognition of his career as a professor of Canadian literature with over a score of books in his field, John moved progressively away from literary criticism to creative writing, before settling comfortably into the Quin and Morgan series which now occupies his writing efforts full time. He and his wife, Beverley Haun, whose book, Inventing ‘Easter Island’, grew out of her work as a cultural theorist and their travel adventures as scuba divers, share a stone farmhouse with numerous ghosts in Peterborough, Ontario. Recently sidelined from his diving avocation (he was an instructor in both PADI and SDI programs), John and Bev have no intention of giving up whitewater canoeing and cross-country skiing with old friends, or taking long hikes in interesting places around the world.

John is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa.

Reviews

[Flybyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I get myself into?
We do not usually sit and think of the meaning of place names. We do not attribute much meaning to them, we just remember the feeling and memories those places left on us. However, you have got to admit that English place names are uniquely strange and curious and my blood runs faster when I get myself into linguistic discoveries as a linguist, language enthusiast and translator whose biggest dream is to become a polyglot.
Well, this is what I got myself into: A very detailed, well-researched reference book that offers interesting etymological facts.
Apparently English place names take their roots from Celtic people, Romans, Anglo-saxon and Scandinavian culture and Norse and Welsh languages, not to forget early christian settlements and later the religious impact, the effect of monarchy and aristocrats even females, the ladies of the land, though they did not have rights of ownership, left their footprints, too. This is a linguistic feast for language lovers and etymology enthusiast.
We travel on a map of Britain to places and settlements and analyze the etymological backgrounds of the names. The plain place names, which meant nothing before now have a character, a history and meaning History and linguistics. The places become more tangible with modern-day interpretations of archaic languages and it was quite fascinating to learn that most names come from nature - trees, plants, rivers and seas.
Learning Liverpool meant muddy pool, Manchester - breast-shaped hill (!!), Oxford - the river where the oxen cross and Gotham, which is derived from the words “Goat” and “Hamm” - an enclosure -, thus mean “an enclosure where the goats are kept,” were some of the most interesting facts of the book. Well suck it Batman!
A profound and informative book for the professionals and enthusiasts. My only caveat is that it may be too much for a casual reader and reading this book in one sitting may be overwhelming but a great resource nonetheless.

(I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing researched resource in one handy volume! If you're at all curious about English place names and where they came from, you'll learn something here. I found it fascinating, though more to browse through than to read cover-to-cover. I had always wondered where the name Hockering came from (my ancestors were from there). Apparently, it comes from a word meaning "rounded hill". The word nerd in me is pleased!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acton Trussell, Long Duckmanton, Bradfield Combust – yes, many are the places in England that have peculiar names to distinguish them (and that's before we get to the meme-friendly rude names). This book admits there are far too many places in all for it to cover, but it does make a very good fist of explaining why the more significant are so titled, and gives handy background to our history as regards to who came over and when and what place-names they chose to suit themselves. Thus, with the knowledge within, you can work out what pretty much any place name might have meant. Observations from a strong browse range from the general – it's surprising how many places were named in their Latin version, even in the middle ages – to the specific – isn't it fun to think of waterways called "River River" and heights called "Hill Hill"? Both feature.

I think the book could have been lighter (or more comprehensive) without its copious references back to the Domesday Book, although that major juncture in our history, when we became soundly Normanised, is clearly a decent point in time to refer back to and see what was yclept what. I might have hoped for it to go into pronunciation – does it matter that we have a Gillingham with both a hard and a soft opening G? I also think Beaconsfield's entry is wrong, and the beech tree version is correct – and I hope the proof-reading corrected the highly bodged history of Rutland that my preview copy tried to submit, and decides the derivation of Totnes – other entries give a very different reason than the one for the actual place. All in all, this is a thorough reference work, and reads quite warmly considering the repetitive, dry nature of its subject. It's not for dipping in to for everyone on the bus to work, but I wish it success.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an Anglophile and love to visit the UK. This book would be great fun as we drive around when visiting my friend. She has another book like this one that goes into the origins of place names. I do like this one as the text seems clearer and more straight forward. It was a treat to go through and pick out places I have been and things I have seen. I appreciated the section at the beginning that went into the history of England and therefore the evolution of the language. It was a timely reminder of the influences.
I confess I was disappointed that one of my favourite names, a village just down the road from my friend, was missing. I think Wye Piddle should be in the next version for certain. It just sounds so whimsical. The other problem I had with this book was I read an ARC on my Kindle. This is the kind of book I would love in paperback form so I could dip in and out easily. If there is a choice of format, take the physical copy.
Four purrs and two paws up.

[Rekha O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a really well researched and interesting history of place names in England. I learned so much about the people, linguistics and geography that influenced names.
The beginning of the book gives a brief history of the Celts, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Norman words and phrases that made their way into place names. Some of the information I had heard before but the underlying theme of how this history affected the language and place names of England was given context.
When I got to the alphabetical names sorted by region I must admit that I did not read them all one by one but found names of places that I had been and found their origins, which was so interesting, Occasionally I will refer to this book when I read about a place or someone talks about it,
And when international travel starts again I will visit England and take this handy and interesting reference book along with me.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who is fascinated by history of almost any kind, and of English/Irish heritage, I thought this would be an interesting book to read. There's certainly more information than you will ever need about the history of place names.

Some of them are truly fascinating, for example the place name Washington, which naturally being an American, I was curious about. Believed to originally have been an early Anglo-Saxon name of Hwaesingtun, itself derived after the name of a local man called Hwaesa (pronounced Wassa).

For the most part however, this to me is a very dry read. More along the lines of reading a textbook. It took me 2 months to read, and that was reading a little bit every day. I think it would have been more enjoyable if it was written in a more engaging manner.

[Sandra Berryman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about the origins of places and towns of England. Somewhat repetitive but quite informative, you can tell a lot of research was done and done well. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

[Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of different places introduced in the book. You get a brief introduction/history of the place before moving onto the next place. You get a map of the area as well. Good if you like knowing the meaning of a place.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little gem of a book, which I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

full review over on my blog: http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...