A History of English Place Names and Where They Came From by John Moss

Author:John Moss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History / General
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

Part Ten

The Home Counties

Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire

A map depicting the Home Counties of England.

Abingdon

The name is probably derived from a person called Abba, Aebba or Aebbe, who was one of its earliest settlers, with the addition of two Old English suffixes: ‘inga’, signifying the people, tribe or family, and ‘dun’, a hill. The placename may therefore be taken to mean ‘the hill of Aebba’s tribe or people’. Aebba was possibly the saint after whom St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford was dedicated. Abingdon is actually located in a valley, not on a hill, prompting speculation that the township was moved when Abingdon Abbey was founded around 676. Reputedly, this was the first monastery to be established in Britain, though some argue that Glastonbury holds that distinction. King Edgar (‘the Peaceable’), was educated at the abbey. In 989, a Saxon Parliament assembled at Abingdon, at which time it was known as Abbandune. Domesday spelt the placename as Bertune, locating it historically in the County of Berkshire, in the Homer Hundred, held by the abbey in 1086, and assessed before the Conquest at sixty hides – afterwards at just forty hides.

Aldermaston

The origin of this West Berkshire placename is derived from the Old English ‘earldormann’ (equivalent to a modern alderman), with the suffix ‘tun’ added. Hence, ‘the alderman’s estate or settlement’. It was recorded in the Great Survey of 1086 as ‘the king’s land of Aeldremanestone in the Theale Hundred’, parts of which were held for him by various knights and nobles, including the Count of Evreux, Hugh Bolbec, Roger de Lacy, Robert d’Oilly, Bishop Osmund of Salisbury, Ralph Piercehedge, and many others, including several Saxon tenants.

Amersham

The placename is based on a man called Ealhmund, an early settler of the land, and the Old English suffix ‘ham’, signifying a homestead or settlement. Hence, the placename means ‘homestead of Ealhmund’. It was recorded as Agmodesham in the County of Buckinghamshire in 1068 and held by Geoffrey de Mandeville for his master, Lord Bertram de Verdun, who was abroad on the king’s service.

Amptill

The name of the Bedfordshire township of Amptill dates from Saxon times, when it was called Aemethyll, derived from the Old English word ‘aenette’, meaning ‘ant’, and ‘hyll’, a hill. Hence, the name means ‘anthill’, or ‘ant infested hill’. The Domesday Book refers to it as Ammetelle, in the Redbornstoke Hundred, held by Nigel de la Vast for Nigel d’Aubigny. Before the Conquest, the manor had belonged to ‘Alweard, a man of Aelfric, son of Goding’, and was valued at four pounds.

Aspley Guise

The Old English word ‘aespe’ referred to the aspen tree, and the affix ‘leah’ meant ‘woodland clearing’. In the mid-tenth century the placename was recorded as Aesplea. Hence, Aspley means ‘woodland clearing where aspen trees grow’. The village entry in Domesday recorded it as Aspeleia, and listed it as quite a large estate supporting twenty-five households in the Manshead Hundred of Bedfordshire, held in 1086 by Hugh de Beauchamp, having been the property of Leofeva before the Norman Conquest. The

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