NAMES FROM THE PAST
Our March meeting was enthralled by Nick Mason giving us a talk about
English place names, names from the past. A self-
an expert,) Nick demonstrated his expertise and enthusiasm to us all.
Nick lives in Evesham Vale but had done his homework on many of the local
place names, and afterwards was able to refer to various books for anyone's
more difficult individual queries. He left us all with a small booklet which
highlighted the common place name elements in the five old languages which
had the most influence namely, British (Celtic), Roman (Latin), Old English
(Anglian, Saxon, Kentish), Scandinavian (Old Norse) and Norman (northern
French dialect).
He explained, with many examples, how place names derived from descriptions
of habitation or work places; from owners or administrators; from distinguishing
features, or from descriptions of topography. The most bizarre that he quoted
was a place name that when translated into modern English meant 'Hill Hill Hill'
having gleaned three words meaning Hill over the centuries -
know of it -
We thanked him for his enlightening talk, and I, for one, will never look again at
local signposts with the same eyes!