| What is merseyPlaceNames? |
| This site
presents a comprehensive survey of local place
names and their origins. I have given the
original meaning of the place name in the
language of the time, along with information on
the local context that might have given rise to
the name (where possible, of course). If
relevant, I have given the name as it appeared in
the Domesday Book of 1086 (marked DB),
otherwise the earliest version of the name I have
been able to find. I have avoided giving the
(often many) orthographic variants down the
centuries, but apart from this merseyPlaceNames
is probably the most comprehensive collection of
this kind of information in one place on the Web
at the moment. |
| Regions |
Liverpool and Suburbs
Around Liverpool
The Wirral
South of the
Mersey |
| Acknowledgements |
| I have
consulted many sources and it is clear that quite
a lot is open to interpretation. As much as
possible, I have given alternatives, but I have
had to be selective sometimes. If you can
contribute fresh information, I would be very
keen to hear from you; anything used will be
acknowledged. For contact details, see the allertonOak home page. |
| These are the
major internet sources consulted: |
The Domesday Book
Online
A Key to English
Place-Names (Nottingham University, Institute
for Name Studies)
The Victoria
History of the County of Lancaster (1907 - British History
Online)
What's in a Name? (Merseyside Maritime
Museum) |
| Also the
following book: |
| Domesday
Book, Cheshire: including Lancashire, Cumbria and
North Wales, Philip Morgan (ed.),
Phillimore, 1978. |
|
 |
| If, like me, you sometimes try and conjure
up a picture of how a place must have been long ago, a
knowledge of the origin of the place name can sometimes
provide a significant clue. For example, the name Wallasey
comes from the Anglo-Saxon for 'Island of the Britons'.
It was an island because Wallasey Float once extended to
the sea at Leasowe, but what's so unusual about
'Britons'? Well, the Wirral was flooded with peaceful
Viking immigrants from Ireland in late Anglo-Saxon times
and Wallasey could have been an isolated enclave of
Brits. Furthermore, it was named thus by the latter
rather than by the Vikings, so maybe there was a bit of
xenophobia going on here? Enjoy browsing ... |
