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English Place Names
English place names quite often have very varied origins. The Romans, Danes, Anglo-Saxons, Norse, Normans and the Celts have all named places in England.
Sadly there's no guide on how to say them here:-(
| The word | What it means | Example |
| Barton | Bairley or corn field | Mulbarton |
| Bold or Bothel | House/Dwelling | Bootle |
| Booth | Temporary Shelter | Boothby |
| Brough or Burgh or Bury | Fortified Place | Shaftesbury |
| -by | Farm, village (from Dane and Norse culture) | Irby |
| Caster or Chester | City or Roman Town | Chester |
| Down or Dun | Hill | Durham |
| Ford | Ford (river crossing) | Oxford |
| -ham | Homestead, Estate (Anglo-Saxon) | Horsham |
| Hough | heel or hill spur | Thornton Hough |
| Hirst or Hurst | hillock, copse | Chislehurst |
| -ing (from ingas) | Groups of people (Anglo-Saxon) | Barking |
| -ingham | (ing and ham combined) groups of people, estates (Anglo-Saxon) | Birmingham |
| -ington | ing and tun combined, (Anglo-Saxon) | Bonnington |
| Lea or Lee or Leigh | Forest, wood, glade | Shirley |
| Over | bank or edge or hill | Ashover |
| Scale | sheiling | Scales |
| Shaw | small wood | Audenshaw |
| -stead | place or religious site | Hempstead |
| Stoke | Religious pace or secondary settlement | Basingstoke |
| Stowe | Holy place | Padstow |
| -thorpe | Secondary settlement or hamlet (Danish culture) | Alethorpe |
| -thwaite | Clearing, meadow, paddock (Norse culture) | Applethwaite |
| -toft | Homestead (from Danish culture) | Bruntoft |
| -tun | Enclosure, farmstead, village (Anglo-Saxon) | Carlton |
| Wick | dwelling or farm | Nantwich |
| Worth | Enclosure | Tamworth |
Most of this information was taken from 'The Reader's Digest Complete Atlas of the British Isles', 1965
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