Take the Anglo-Saxon place name testNames of towns and villages all mean something. In England, many places have Anglo Saxon names. For example; BIRMINGHAM comes from BEORMA (a person’s name) + INGA (family or tribe) + HA (homestead). So BIRMINGHAM simply means “Homestead of Beorma’s tribe.”
Here are some Anglo Saxon words and their meanings. The spellings have been simplified!
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ALD | old |
| ASK | ash tree |
| BACH | stream |
| BAR | barley |
| BURN | stream |
| BEWER | beaver |
| CARL | freeman |
| DEN or DENE | valley or hollow |
| FLEET | creek or inlet |
| BURY or BOROUGH | fortification |
| HAM | homestead |
| HURST | wooded hill |
| LEE, LEIGH or LEY | meadow or field |
| MOR or MOOR | wasteland |
| WAIN | wagon |
| WAL or WALSH | native Britons |
| WICK | old farming settlement |
| STOWE | important meeting place |
| TUN/TON | village or town |
Some words have survived unchanged, or been updated:- WELL, BRIDGE, SAND, FORD, STONE and NEW etc all feature in English names.
Now see if you can “translate” the following place-names. Hover over the place name for the answer.
ALDBOROUGH – ASKHAM – BARWICK – BEWERLEY – BURNHAM – CARLTON – MORLEY – SANDBACH – FLEETHAM – WAINFLEET – WALDEN – WALSHFORD – STOWMARKET – STONYHURST – TONBRIDGE
NB: Place-names can be confusing. MOUSEHOLE in Cornwall really does mean “mousehole”, but MUCKING in Essex has nothing to do with mucking about! It means “Place of Mucca’s Tribe”.
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