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

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, place names are inextricably bound up in our history and they tell us a great deal about the place where we live.

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This book has been extensively researched. It contains the origin and meaning of virtually every village, town or city in England. Having said that, I was a little disappointed that my own town was not included.

However, I think that this would be a go to book for anyone wanting to garner information about the origin of place names. It was highly interesting to read the section regarding the origin of the general prefixes and suffixes that many place names have.

The majority of the book concerns the meaning of the individual place names which are dealt with on a regional basis. It is probably not a book that a reader would read from beginning to end. Rather it is a dip into book that would sit quite happily within the book collections of most readers who are interested in English history.

ISBN: 978-1526722843

Publisher: Pen and Sword

About the Author:

John Moss studied Fine Arts and English in Wolverhampton and Manchester Art Schools, before taking early retirement after teaching and lecturing in Art & Design. He founded a Graphic Design company in 1997. Retired at last, he began writing: a science fiction trilogy in 2013. Following Great British Family Names and Their History, this is his second book for Pen and Sword.