A Place-Name Survey Introduction
© Kelly Kilpatrick 2014. This research is made freely available and may be used without permission, provided that acknowledgement is made of the author, title and web-address. Saxons in the Meon Valley: A Place-Name Survey Dr Kelly A. Kilpatrick Institute for Name-Studies, University of Nottingham Introduction The Meon Valley in southern Hampshire is defined by the River Meon, a chalk river, which rises at the village of East Meon and flows to the Solent at Titchfield Haven. The Meon Valley area contains the parishes of East and West Meon, Warnford, Exton, Corhampton, Meonstoke, Droxford, Soberton, Wickham and Fareham (for Titchfield); also associated with this region are the parishes of Shedfield, Swanmore, Privett, Froxfield, Steep, Langrish and East and West Tisted. Place-names preserve information about topographic, linguistic and cultural conditions at the time of their formation, and therefore are a useful resource for investigating the past. The toponymic survey presented below is intended to compliment the ‘Story of the Saxons in the Meon Valley’ project, and to provide a general synopsis of the region’s Anglo-Saxon history through place- name evidence. This survey covers the geographical scope of the field-work carried out in the project. Firstly, an introduction to the Jutes of southern Hampshire is presented, followed by a discussion of the Meon River and the Meonware. The following toponymic survey adheres to the structure of the English Place-Name Society county survey volumes. The place-names are organised hierarchically by hundreds, then parishes. Major settlements are discussed first in each parish, followed by minor names of etymological interest arranged alphabetically.
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