Ce - N Ame S of C E Lti C Origi N

I N D E X .

P l ace - n ame s of C e lti c Origi n

R om an N am e s i n K e n t

T e u ton i c (J u t ish) N am e s i n K e n t

S a xon or J u ti sh S u fﬁ xe s

S ome C o mmon S axon E l e m e n ts i n P l a ce - n a m e s 2 9

T h e N orthm e n i n K e n t

T he Isl an d s of K e n t

V ar ia tion s i n th e Sp e lli n g of Pl a ce - n a m e s

E ccl e si ast ic a l P l ace - n a m e s

Pl ace - n ame s fr6m P e rson s

Ab s urdi t i e s i n D e r ivation

O ur Ton s an d Ston e s

O u r Ham s

” ” O u r S o e s B ur s a n d H th e s l , y i

O u r C old Harb ours

An de rid a

L a n d D i vi si on s of K e n t

E tue u s u LO C A L.

INTRODUCTION .

I C H EN was a school boy at anterbury , in a n d the ﬁfties sixties , my ﬁrst interest i n philology was evoked by Trench on Th e S t u d o W or d s y f , and by the mor e elaborate ’ W o r d s a n d la c e s pi oneer work , I saac Taylor s P , while oral in stru ction was afforded by the lectu res of Dean Alford and the class teaching of my

M i in s n t c h o . H eadmaster , All four of these leaders having been clergymen , it i s perhap s

ﬁtting that , at a considerable distance , both of time an d of ability , another cleric shou ld attempt t o localize some of their general teaching .

Becoming aware in 1920 that ther e was no la c e a m e s o K e n t book dealing with the P N f , such as has been produced by individuals or s m all committees in the case of some other counties , twenty i n nu mber ; ﬁndi ng also by correspond

M c C lu r e o B r i t is h la ce ence that , the auth r of P “ a i n Th i r Hi r i c l S t tin K N m e s e s t o a e g , says ent i s one of the most difﬁcu lt regions i n England to ” I trace its topographical history , set to work to read all I could that bore upon the subject . I E specially when laid u p by an ailment , read through twenty - six volumes of Ar c h ae olog i a

C a n ti a n a . , and found therein a productive quarry

Then , to facil itate the future labou rs of those I more competent to deal fully with the subj ect , wrote a series of weekly article s in the S ou t h

r n G a t t e E a s t e ze last winter , which were found In troducti on .

of interest , Mr . E . Salter Davies a sking me to write something for the K e n t E du ca ti on G a ze t t e

co - to enli st the operation of school teachers , and to remind them of the educational beneﬁt to their pupils of a study of local names .

I n some parts of England and Wa les thi s stu dy of local place names has been taken up with enthu siasm by teachers and scholars , and in thi s connexion i t should be noted that the names of every lane , hou se , and ﬁeld and wood , should be a scertained and recorded , even i f n o meaning can be found . N ames of thi s kind change , and the old folk who could say why a name was given “ will not be always with u s . Terriers and

Tithe Maps , which can be consu lted , if not bor rowed , will give more names than ordinary map s . To such enquiries we may be stimulated by shame when we know that K en t i s one of the counties without a work on its place names , and even more by the fact that Norway has been at work in thi s di rection since 1896—the Church and the State collaborating and a S tate grant helping in the production of the nineteen volumes already

. t oo publi shed So , i n Sweden , a committee was 1901 appointed by Royal authority in , and one province has alrea dy been dealt with exhau stively . 1 910 Denmark also from , u nder the Ministry of

Educati on , and with State grants , thu s recog n i se d the lingui stic and hist or ico - arch aeological importance of such stu dies .

And yet none of these enlightened and p rog re s sive kingdoms have anything like the advanta ge that E ngland possesses in its Saxon C harters and its Domesday Boo k . More honou r to them , more shame to u s ! In tr oducti on .

Le t it be clearly understood , however , from the fi rst that I am not writing as an expert on these matters , nor as having a direct knowledge of I Celtic or of Saxon . All have attempted has been simply to collect , for the benefit of those who shall be attracted to the study of ou r place - names as elucidating the ancient history of the Cou nty , i nformation from many sources whch will save them the time and labour of finding out for them selves whether a particular name i s old enough to be found i n Domesday Book , or in later Saxon charters and wills ; and especially there has been i n my mind the hope that a committee may be appointed to deal a s well with K ent a s other

Counties have been , e specially by the great

o- Angl Saxon scholar s , Professor Skeats , Pro fe ssor C raigie , of Oxford , and Professor Mawer ,

r iz n of Newca stle . For such literary a t a s and I I architects a s h ope may sho rtly ari se , am more than content to have been bu t a day labou rer , a collector of material which others may ﬁnd worthy of scrutiny and perhaps of u se .

PLACE NA M ES IN KENT

r L PLACE N A M E S o C E TI C O RIG IN .

EN OF K ENT mu st not make too much In i c a v t . of their cou nty motto , As a

matter of fact , we have been conquered at variou s times , and sometimes before the rest of England succumbed to the invader . The aborigines , wh o were probably somewhat like the E s u im e a u x q , a small race , having only stone weapons and tools , lived on the fringe of the great glacier of the last I ce Age (perhaps years ago) , which enabled one (though doubtless no one tried) to walk from what i s now M iddlesex and K ent to the North Pole ; even th e present North Sea being part of the great sheet of ice which covered all ou r land down to the north bank of the Thames . When climatic condition s ca ll altered for the better , England (to it by its much later name) became desirable to the great

- t h west ward migration of e Celts, who had

- already over ru n all North Eu rope . Thi s was the first of the five great waves of peoples who from the East seized on Eu rope , each driving its predecessor westward . The Celtic is , at any a r te , the first to be clearly traced . I t was divi s ible into the Gadhelic an d the Cymric (or Bry t ho n ic ) element , from the former the E rse , Gaelic , and Manx languages being derived , and from the latter the Welsh and the B reton (Ancient Briti sh a n d Gau li sh , the Corni sh , and probably the

Picti sh) . The ﬁrst branch i s said to have passed into 800 B C Britai n about , and the second about 6 30 B C . T henceforward , but for a few place 10 Pla ce N a m e s i n K en t .

names , chieﬂy of rivers and heights , and still fewer word s which have survived in ou r tongue , we know little until the vi sit of Juliu s C aesar i n 4 G li r B C . 5 a l c IVa , from whose we learn of

- - some of the Celtic tribe names and place names . Otherwi se we know little apart from the river ro ots which we ﬁnd all over N . Eu rope (and

- hardly any in England are non Celtic) , especially the ﬁve mai n word s for river or water—Afon — — — Dur E sk Rhe and Don . K ent i tself i n the earliest record s i s found a s G a G —a e nt from the Celtic enn head or headland , which again appears on the other side of ou r land as the M u ll of Cantire . We have also ou r C he v e n a e Chevening , which , like g , embodies the — Celtic Cefn ridge. (still Cefn in Welsh) . And

K its Coty H ou se on ou r neighbouri ng Do-wn — — K . e d a a i . e gives u s h ollow , and Coi t wood , , the hollow dolmen in the wood . Mote Park sound s “ ” m o dern en o ugh to some ; but ou r park i s the C a rw o eltic p yg , an encl sed place , while the much later Anglo- Saxon Mote denotes a place of local

f - . r assembly Du n was thei r word o a hill fort , and so we have Croyd o n (with a Saxon preﬁx) for the fo rtress on the chalk range , th ough most of t he old British for tresses which preserved the n a me when occupied by Rom a ns or Saxons are in other cou nties . Pen shu rst , on th e other hand , ﬁ u m has a Saxon suf x to the Celtic Pen , still i n hil changed Welsh as meaning a head or l, perhaps only a dialectic form of the Gaelic Ceann , “ ” K e n K . or , which we have already noted in ent As to whether the names of Romney and

Romney M arsh have a Celtic element , opinions f W o r d s a n d la c e s di fer . I saac Taylor , in his P , has little doubt that they come “ from the Gaelic ” ru im n e , a marsh , and i nstances Ramsey , i n the Fens , as coming from the same sou rce , and

i . e . ﬁnd s it also in Ramsgate , , the passage through a n opening i n the cliffs to the marshes h 1864 . B behind ut e wrote in , and in some la c m 1 1 P e Na e s of C e lti c Or igi n . respects i s con sidered too imaginati ve by modern philologi sts . Rui m i s undoubtedly t h e Briti sh — R u oih m R u o i him— name of Thanet , or c preced T e n it T e n it la n d — o ing , , Thanet s perhaps the situ a tion of Ramsgate i n Thanet i s a ll we have to M l m ” consider . c C u r e ignores r u i n e as a deriva tion ; but does not explai n the Rumin as a name of the di strict . The oldest E ngli sh form i s in 697 m — A . D . R i n i n u i . e . a charter of g seta , , the dwellings of the people of Rumi n , and he inclines (though a dmitti ng i t may be far - fetched) to derive “ ” a from Rom n , since the whole region i s full of “ ” ﬁi x a . u Roman ssociation s Ou r common s den , for a deep wooded valley , gives u s probably a

Celtic word adopted by the conquering J u tes . Perhaps the expl a nation for so few Celtic names of pl a ces having su rvived i s accou nted for by the thoroughness with which the invading J utes fa r a either slew or d rove westw rd s the Celts , and

- so re named whatever settlements they made . 4 2 A D 5 . . S a xo n Thu s , in , according to the C h r o n i cle , Hengi st slew Briton s at Cray ford , and these mu st have formed a large propor tion of the population , and thi s was only one of a series of victories which drove the Celts back K wa rd into the fa r west . Pu rely Celtic ent was

- C 55 prehi storic ; Romano Celtic it wa s from B . 4 A . D 13 to . , and yet marvellou sly little remains

of ei ther element .

a Thi s mighty r ce has left u s little record , a though i ts l nguage su rvives i n Scotland , I re

a n d a . a land , W les I n M idstone Mu seum we can w a study i ts eapon s , its orn ments , and i ts method s of sepultu re ; but i n ou r walks i n K ent a r e we rarely reminded of its long , as well a s

a . ncient , occupation of the soil Yet i n what we might consider the pu rest Engli sh some undoubt e d l a s a y Celtic wo rd s su rvive , such b sket , crook , kiln , ﬂeam , barrow , ashlar , rasher , mattock , bran , gown , ﬂannel . 12 Pla ce N a m e s i n K en t .

Availing myself of what has been written by

Celtic or Saxon scholars , I turn to the river names K of ent , of which some are obviou sly C eltic and others as obviou sly Saxon . — As a The western branch of the Stour i s so E h s s e t sford . named , and Ashford was anciently Rivers have someti mes been named from t h e

- d trees on their banks , and besides our Ash for , we ﬁnd elsewhere Ashbrook and Ashbourne ; though the common Celtic e sk for water or river may also be con sidered . I n thi s connection I note that in a direct line we have near Detling ,

o - Boxley , Thornham , H ollingbourne (Angl Saxon Ho le n Be -a r st e d y i s holly) , possibly from the

Saxon Berc for birch , and Ashford from Aesc , ou r ash . — R OK . a B O Thi s l ter , or Engli sh , name for a small stream appears only as a termination . We have Cranbrook , a reminder , like Cranbourne u m el sewhere , of the time when cranes were not E h common in nglan d . Th e se are t e places o n Brook , a village a tributary of the Stou r ; a Brookland , near a br nch of the Rother ; and

Broo k Street , near Woodchu rch . And may not “ K K e db ro o k idbrooke , o r , be the brook from the Coed ” —the Celtic word for a wood ! — R - BOU NE . The Anglo Saxon Burne for stream a appe rs not only i n the Bou rne and Bou rne Park ,

- and the variou s Nail bou rnes , o r intermittently

ﬂowing b rooks , bu t also in Bekesbou rne , Bi shops bou rne , Patrixbou rne , Littlebou rne , the Ravens bou rne , H ollingbou rne , B rabou rne (the broad bou rne) , N orthbourne , and perhaps Sitting bou rne , although thi s i s on a creek rather than a brook . — C R Av . re a From the Saxon C gg , a small b rook , a tributary of th e Darent or Derwent . I n 4 5 7 A . D . ZE sc H engist and his son (Ash , or , m e t o ho r ic a ll p y , ship) slew Briton s at C re c a n ford K g , and drove the rest ou t of ent to la e a m e s o l O i 13 P c N f C e tic r gin .

Lu n de nbyrg (London) . So the S a x on C hr on i cle l records . Another o d chronicler calls thi s the battle of the Derwent . The valley of the Cray ’ contai ns the villages of Crayford , S t . Pau l s (pro ’ ’ ’

. . a bably S Paulinu s ) Cray , St Mary s Cr y , Foot s

Cray , and the di strict i s commonly called the

C rays . — ’ A R N . D E T Like Dover s Dou r , from the C e ltic

- root Du r for water or river , comes the Der went ,

- of which Darent i s a variati on . Dwr gwyn in

Welsh i s the clear water . There are fou r Der

wents in E ngland , besides Lake Derwent Water .

Dartford i s the ford o f th e Darent . — R . C DOU The living eltic tongues of Wales , I reland a nd Scotland preserve the Celtic Du r ae Dwr in Welsh , Du r i n G lic and E rse . There a re other Dou rs in Fi fe and Aberdeen , and the

- Dover or Dur beck in Notts , and in Su ssex the F Ad u rn i Roman itinerary gives ortu m , whence it

ha s been assu med that there was an Adou r river . But Prichard give s forty - fou r ancient names con

tai ning thi s root in I taly , Germany , Gaul , and

Britain . — N . EDE The Eden , on which i s Edenbridge , i s

a tributary of the Medway . Vari ou s rivers of thi s C name are found also i n u mberland , Yorks , Fife

and Roxbu rgh , containing the Celtic root Dan ,

Don , or Den , for water or river .

L E E — Thi s i s a brook ri sing at E ltham Place ,

and giving its name to Lee Street and Lee , thence

ﬂowing to Lewisham . Th e more important river Lea on the opposite side of the Tha mes i s called L hr n i cle yg a n in the S a x on C o . I n E ssex also

- C there i s the Lea beck , which shows a eltic name with a su fﬁ x attributable to the Dani sh marauders whose becks are more common in the north of

E ngland . The d ropping of the last syllable of

Lyga n would give the Lee .

L E N — . Thi s short tributary of the Medway ha s been neglected by writers on place - names ; but it 14 la ce a m e i K P N s n e n t .

L e v n might be the Celtic , smooth , as in Loch

Leven and three rivers of that name in Scotland ,

C -rn besides others in Gloucestershire , Yorks , o C wall , umberland , and Lancashire . — WA . MED Y The ﬁrst syllable i s adjectival , like T a m e sa the Tam (broad or sti ll) in or Thames , and i s the Celtic n , vapou r , whence ou r “ muggy . The second i s from a varying Celtic w root , represented in Welsh by gwy or y , for

- water . M ost of the river names from thi s root are in Wales ; bu t besides the Medway there i s th e

Solway , on the Scotti sh border , and such names S a x on as Weymouth and Weybridge . I n the C hr on i cle ll w r e it i s sp e e d M e d e ze g a n . Worth cording (if only to di scard them) are some deriva ’ tion s given i n Fergu son s R iv e r N a m e s . Writing i n 1862 (since when some study has been more scientiﬁc) , he gives the suggestion of the German , a Grimm , that the name refers to a cup of me d overtu rned by a river god ! Als o that Gibson ’ s E ty m olog i ca l G e og r a phy d erives it from th e Latin mediu s becau se the river ﬂows through the K ! middle o f ent and thi s , says Gibson , i s the u su al acceptation . Fergu son throughout has

San scri t on the b rain , a nd so refers u s to a

San scrit root , mid , to soften , and thinks it named K from its gentle ﬂow . Bu t which of ou r enti sh rivers are not gentle ! — QU AG GY . One of the two brooks at Lewi sham . t he Quag may be same as Quag i n quagmire , and “ ” the second syllable the Anglo - Saxon ea for water or river , cognate with the old H igh Ger “ ” “ ” ’ R se t t i s man aha and the Latin aqua . I n o “ ” - poem we ﬁnd I fouled my feet in quag water .

V — RA EN SBOU R NE . When Teutonic c oloni sts or C invaders, dispossessing the elts , inquired the o f name a stream , they took the Celtic word to be a proper instead of a common name , and so added their own name for water or river . L E o ater , when the nglish tongue was ev lved , la e a m l O i 15 P c N e s of C e tic r ig n .

C water wa s sometimes added to the eltic , or

- - Celtic plu s Saxon , name . Thu s , i n Wansbeck Alfon water , Wan i s and Evon ; S i s a vestige of the Gadhelic v i s g e ; Beck i s the N orse addition ; and Water t h e later Engli sh when it was for u r gotten what Wansbeck meant . Thu s o present name mean s River water river water So Ravensbourne (interpreted inanely in a Lewi sham print by a legend of a raven and a bone) i s really

the Celtic Avon , with the S axon additi on of K Bourne , so common in ent for stream . —A ROTHE R . mainly Su ssex stream which forms part of the bou ndary of K ent . I t i s said — Rh - to be the Celtic u d dwr that i s Red Water . — STOU R . There are other rivers of thi s name in f Su folk , Dorset , Warwickshi re , and Worcester 6 shire , besides the St r i n H olstein , the S tu ra , a tributary of the Po , and the Stura (now the Store) in I taly , all probably named from the union of two Celtic word s for water , I s and Dwr . Some regard i t as merely the inten sitive of Dwr , as in VV e lsh the preﬁx Y s i s u sed to intensify . N ote that a u nique river name i s a rarity . — WA . S LE Bede , the Saxon historian , writes of l . Su a u a . the bapti sms by S Paulinu s , in the Thi s i s the Swale , which makes Sheppey an i sland . There are the East and the West Swale and

Swalecliff , and the origin may be from the Anglo w ll n S e a . Saxon , to swell There are other

Swales in Britai n and Germany . — A M S . d TH E This means the Broa , or Still ,

Water , from the Celtic adjective Tam and the w root I s for ater , which i s reduplicated in the name I si s for the river at Oxford , higher than w here the Thames falls into it . There i s a river

Tame i n four o f ou r counties .

W AN T U M - S . Thi s much dwindled strea m

separates Thanet from the mainland , and i s called W n m a t su u by Bede . The word i s said to be not C eltic (as are most river names here and on the 16 Pla c e N a m e s i n K e n t .

C ontinent) ; but Teutonic . Want or Went , meant a Way , and Som had the same qualifying force “ W ” a s in the word in some , that i s , equivalent to “ ” ” m . W e n su the able i n lovable There i s a ,

’ a tributary of the Yare , near Norwich . While in a o f early d ys the north branch _ the S tou r by “ o Thanet wa s not fordable , th i s water was g ” ” - n e s able to coin a word . The way i s not ec s a ril i s y a water way . At Ightham , Seven Vents the name of a place where seven roads meet . “ E N L AD E E N E — Y or Y L T . Applied by Lewi s to the north and south mouth s of the estu ary of the W m a n t su . , which made Thanet an i sland The

- A . S . gen lad means a discharging of a river into ” s ea the , or a smaller river into one larger . Ladan hla d a n L a m a r or mean s to load or Iade . b d e “ wrote in 1 570 Ye n la d e or ye n le t b e t oke n e t h an ” I ndraught or I nlett of water i nto the land . T here are two or three places of thi s name in the f Ya n t le mou th o the Thames . t C reek i s i n the

I sle of Grain . — BEULT . The final t i s not found in the earliest record s I have seen , where the name i s Beule . One of ou r best K ent arch aeologi sts suggests the Be a u la n d Saxon verb , to tu rn o r twi st , as the origi n . I think , however , we may go further back and find no exception to the rule that most of ou r rivers were named by the Celts , for I find the E rse or I rish Buol or B iol for water , and in addition to C ontinental rivers which contain this root there i s the B u il (now called the Boyle) i n t h I reland , e Beela i n Westmorland , and the

Beau ly in I nverness .

18 Pla c e N a m e s i n K e n t .

C earlier by the elts , while our villages with few exceptions are Scandinavian or Teu tonic , other Hi s t or o r . . wi se Norse S axon Prof Green , in his y o th e E n li s h e o le f g P p , i s doubtless right i n say ing that “ only in the great town s were the

Briton s Romanized . The tribes of the rural dis t ric t s remained apart , speaking their own tongue and owing some tra diti onal allegiance to their ” native chiefs . K ent had more than its share of the mighty road - making of Rome ; more than its share (except in the tu rbu lent northern boundary of E ngland) of Roman military stations ; but though the roads remain , forts are only bits of ruin s or foundations , and the names have peri shed or been K changed . So , too , in ent were most of the nine Roman ports pu t u nder the ju ri sdiction of the

Comes Li t t o r i s Sa x on i ci . I n the Antonine I tinerary of the fou rth centu ry the route from the Northe r n W a ll i n Du mfriesshire to ou r Ric hb or L n d n i ough has as its last station o o o (London) , N ov io m a o 10 V i n ia ci s g (site u nknown) , miles ; g P 18 D u rob riv is ( Spri nghead) , miles ; ( Roches 9 D u r ole v o 13 ter) , miles near Sittingb ourne) , D u rov e rn o 1 2 miles ; (Canterbu ry) , miles ; and R t i 12 u u s . I p (Richborough) , miles n no case ha s n the Roman name su rvived , with the exceptio

Ru t u i s - of the twi sted p , for Lundon ium i s the old name adopted by th e Romans . Other rou tes add D ub r i 14 D u rov e r n o s (Dover) , miles from , and

Lim n i s 16 D ub ri s . Portu s a (Lympne) , miles from

Where we ﬁnd S treet it i s of cou rse , the Saxon

i . e . form of the Roman Strata Via , , paved road , and so ou r K enti sh Stone Street ran from the fortiﬁed port (a s it was then , though inland now) of Lympne t o C anterbu ry ; and Watling Street (the name sti ll su rviving in London and C anter bu ry) from thei r other f o rtiﬁed ports of Rutup i ae C ( Richborough) to anterbu ry , London , S tony

n d C . S tratford , a hester But Watling i s not L n d S axon Chr on icle Is atin , a i n the th e name R om an a m e s N i n K e n t . 19

- \Vae lin r c a st ae t . g S , t , W S o oo the ell t—reet which ran from M—aidstone into the Weald with no deﬁnite end is the road in the Wald , or Weald , forest . We may perhaps add the places ending “ ” in hall as a relic of the Roman au la . These are more common i n Thanet and Romney Marsh than elsewhere , and in both these places Romans had much to do . The names given to the two Roman fortresses which guarded the W a n t su m (then an important ae water way) , Regu lbiu m and Rutupi , were hard Ra cu lf for Saxon lips , and so were changed into

- cestre , whence Reculvers , and Repta caester , R b a t e s u r h . later , whence ou r Richborough So g — also the Roman name of Rochester D u r ob re v i s (the stronghold of the bridges) became in Saxon R r ib i s Hr ﬁb re v i o o . times , , then This was shor Hroﬁ a tened into , which again was l ter assu med a n d to be the name of a man , so Bede (twelve

Hro fe s - ae hu ndred years ago) gives u s c ster , whence ou r Rochester . C i st e le t Chi slet , however , earlier , probably C a t e le tu m preserves the Roman s , a small castle or camp . And Cheriton (there are others in other counties) i s said to be derived a s to its

ﬁrst two syllables from cerasu s , cherry , the

D . Romans having introduced thi s tree about A . 6 — — 0 . They a lso b rought the plu m prunes and Plu m st e d e so we get ou r for Plu mstead , adjoin P m lu fo r d . ing Woolwich , and , in Ospringe Also where Wick as a termination i s not the a Scandinavi n Wic or Bay , and s o a coastal name , i t comes from the Latin Vicu s , a row of hou ses , and i s the Saxoni sed form . Thu s ou r

West Wickham , Wickhambreux , Sheldwich , and so forth , record how the Saxon s adopted but changed the name given by the Roman s . M c C lu re suggests that Faversham ( Fe fre s - ham 8 1 1 F e b r e s h a m 858 i n , i n , and Faversham i n

Domesday) may be a su rvival of the Latin Faber , K smith , in the most Latinized part of ent , and 20 Pla ce N a m e s i n K e n t .

on their chief road . The ﬁrst part of the word i s plai nly a genitive case , and there seems to be no similar Saxon designation .

On the Conti nent , as well as in E ngland , the V e n t u m o r a th e name , Vent , i s Lati n for a Silu ru m market o r sale place . Venta , for example , has now as its neighbour Chepstow , w C e s . t. e . a t o , p , the Market H aving lived for W in ch e a eight years as a boy in p , outside the t walls of Canterbury , i t occu rs o me that Wi n V e n t u m may be Ven from , while cheap gives the

Saxon synonym . I ts earlier forms are Wen h e e W n d h e s W i h e fie l c a c n c a d . p , y p , and p Of wi n e m a rk e t d cou rse , it looks like , but woul the ! Roman s have had one And , if so , would it not have been within the wa lls ! On the other — hand , vineyards probably first started by the — R o man s were not u ncommon much later i n K ’ ent , several near Maid stone , and one s estima tion of the pleasantness of wine from outdoor grapes i s inc r eased by finding in old charters that in some cases tenants were b ound t o bring to an abbot or a lord of the manor “ a bu shel of ” b la k e n b e r i s . Thi s wou ld sweeten and colou r the E n gli sh port !

Few , i ndeed , a re the verbal relics of the

400 . Roman s , though they were here for years While the earlier Celts have bequeathed to u s

many word s and names , but few works , the Roman s left u s few words but some mighty w orks .

T E UT O N Ic TI S AM S IN (J U H) N E K ENT .

H E Roman s wh o had conqu ered , ruled ,

and exploited ou r land for fou r centu ries , A D 4 1 1 departed i n . . , owing to the d ire necessity of defending thei r own land a gainst

the Goth s from N orthern Eu rope . Already here they had been attacked a nd pressed southwards 2 1 Te u t o n i c (]u ti s h) N a m e s i n K e n t .

by the Picts of the H ighlands , aided by the Scots of I reland . To avoi d Picti sh conquest the f a n d wh o Briton s o fered land pay to the Engli sh , up to then had been ai ding the Picts . Who were these Engli sh ! A long peninsula runs northward s (as few d o) from Denmark , and separates the N orth Sea from the Baltic . H erein , r ou r real home o cradle , dwelt three tribes of the Low German stock , Angles , Jutes , and a K S xons , and as to ent i t was the J utes from A D . J utland who , u nder H engist and H orsa , i n . 4 49 a t E bb sﬂe e t a a s o , landed in Th net , did thers i n the I sle of Wight , the I sland s in both cases forming a great naval and military station , from which the hinterland s of K ent and H ants could be overru n . The later , and larger , seizures of w the Saxons ere all the southern cou nties ,

E s sex , Su ssex , Midd lesex , and Wessex , while the sphere of the Angles sp read upwards from what we still call East Anglia . Quarrels with these mercenaries arose a s to pay , and the Bri f K Hro fe sce a st r e tons o ent resolved to ﬁght . w a s too strong , and so southward tu rned H engi st along the Celtic country by K its Coty a n d H ou se , then swooped down on Aylesford a n d won a battle which meant the winning of l a . a fe l E ngl nd H ors in the moment of victory , and the ﬂ int heap of Horsted preserves hi s

a . n me , and has been held to mark h i s grave K entish landowners ﬂed to France ; the Briti sh l a bou rers to t he vast forest ; chu rches ga ve no sanctuary , fo r the heathen Jutes raged most a gain st the clergy . And so for two centu ries the war of di spos session and slaughter went on , u nti l B ritai n wa s a land , not of B riton s , but of E ngli shmen

An le s - a s ( g , or Anglo Saxons , they a re al so a c lled) , while even of thei r language , a s we have seen , few word s l in g ered . S ix years later the

- a n d shore castles of Dover , Richborough , A 44 7 D . Lympne succu mbed . Then , in . , an other 22 Pla c e N a m e s i n K e n t .

f r d tribe , the Saxons , came o a share in the goo ly An d e r id a spoil , overran , the fortress of the “ ll great forest , and slew a that were herein , nor ” was there afterward s one Briton left , at any K rate , in ent . Thi s Saxon , or strictly speaking , o J uti sh , invasi on has given u s most of our blo d , and the greater part of our tongue , our terri rori a l divisions , m o st names of places , and those of th e day s of the week .

Following th e conquerors came colonists , and i n the Saxon districts of England (and K ent i s the most Saxon of all) we ﬁnd the names , not of individual immigrants , bu t of families or clans . These family settlements are denoted by i n the termination g , which was the u sual Anglo e S axon patronymic , corr spondi ng to our later ”

s o n . C in J ohnson , etc So the sons of harles

Brown , who d ied i n Detling , would i n earlier days be called the Brown ings —as the progeny of a duck are ducklings , and of a goose gos lings . I t has been held that when the suffix ham or ton i s added it denotes a filial colony or offshoot from the original settlement of the clan . There are between two an d three thou sand “ places i n E ngland which contain the root ing , although some (mainly in the north) come from a Norse and sub stantive “ eng ” or ing ” which K 22 r i i n mean s meadow . emble makes o g a l settle K 29 f o ea ments in en t , and filial o fsh ots , wher s the western o r northern counties have n o ori ma 1 69 gi l , although , between them , filial settle ments . I f we may thu s di stingu i sh two classes of place K names wh ich su rvive in ent , we have the Bob Hoci n s bings at Bobbing , the g at H ucking , the B oe rli n s H arlings at H arling , the g at Barling , Be r li n s the g at Birling , the Bollings at Bowling , the Garlings at Garlinge , the H allings at H all Hi rc e li n s He ckli n e Ho r in s i ng , the g at g , the g M olli n s at H erringe , the g at Malling , the Weal Be lt ri n ings at Welling , the Beltings at g , the Te u t on i c ut i h N m 23 (] s ) a e s i n K e n t .

C e rr i n s C Pe t li n s Pe dli n g at haring , the g at g , W i tc hlin Be rm a ri n the Wickings at g , the gs at

Barming . I n one case , however , an individual — i s commemor a ted i n a place - name H emmings

Bay , near M argate , i s the scene of the landing a 1009 D of a Dani sh Chieft in in A . . There were m a n v Saxon s i n Thanet u nder Roman rule (as

interments have shown) , bu t few place names

are fou nd there of the patronymic ki nd , the ex c e t i on s p being Garlinge , Birchington , H alling O sin h e lle Cou rt , g , E llington , and Newington

of which some are doubtful . What about ! Detling one of my readers may say . I inclined for some time to the meaning deep meadow (as ﬁo r d Deptford i s the deep or bay) , in allu sion to its position between the vast forest ab ove and M c C lu r e the extensive marshes below ; but M r . will “ ” not hear of ing a meadow , in the South

of England , and one Oxford Professor of Anglo “ S a xon write s me a s follows ! The evidence for ‘ ’ a ing me dow , south of Lincoln shire i s so scanty or dubiou s that it would requ i re pretty strong evidence to establi sh its recurrence i n K ent place - names I n that case one must fall back

upon a Saxon ancestor , and lately i n Maidstone ’ ’ D A D e At h e t h . were found both Maj or and M r , whose families wou ld be D e a t hli n g s in early

Saxon days .

o K Then , of offsh ots , we have in ent the [E li n t o n s a t E lli n s g Allington , the g at Elling Ald i n s E o r in s ton , the g at Aldington , the p g at

Orpington , the Bennings at Boddi ngton , the a t a G K e n Gillings G illingh m , the ennings at n i n t o n C o s i n s a t D odi n s g , the g Cossington , the g D oe fin s at Doddington , the g at Davi ngton , the L o s se n h a m Poe fin s Pe vi n Leasings at , the g at g S fin s ton , the y g at S evington , the Wickings at W ic ki n h u r s t L o d i n s g , the g at Loddington , th e E lli n s Bo si n s Bo s s i n d e n g at Ellington , the g at g B s se n d e n Ad i n s a t (and o ) , the g Add ington , the ( E sli n s Ashli n ha m g at g , and possibly the 24 la m P ce N a e s i n K e n t .

B in e e c g s at Birch ington and Beckenham . As i llu strating the westward migration of the T e n t on lc race we may note , to take one clan , that , starting from Germany , the H emings name He m i n e n He m m in h u se n g in Germany , g a in He m i n st a d t i n Westphalia , g H olstein , H eming in Lorraine and in Alsace , H emington in N orth a m t o n s hi re p and Somerset , and H emingbrough in Yorks . I t may help some in their enqui ry into the

- origin of place names i f I note that of old , and b “ ” y S axon lips , the vowel e was pronou nced “ ”

. Be r fr e st on e . li ke ou r a So , in the case of y B e rn e ﬁe ld C h e rt ha m Berham , , Chert , , Crey , D e r t for d E ss e he r st E s s e t le s fo rd Fr e n in ha m , , , g , He r i e t sh a m He r t le e M e r a t e , H erty , y , H ese , g , Re m m e s a t e Re e r s h Sm e r e d e n n e g , y , , and Were horne—the vowel sound remain ing although the vowel was changed when , for example , H ese became our H ayes . And another poi nt i s that in the K enti sh dialect t h (a separate character in i n e . . a r d e r Saxon) often becomes d , g , g g for gathering , and dare and dem for th ere and them . Th i s ! still su rvives in remote places and aged

B d r n . persons . S o e d e s d e for Bethersden I may here add some i nstances of what i n some cases aids , and in other cases hinders , a knowledge of the origin and meaning of a — place - name that i s the very variou s ways in which the name ha s been spelled . Generally , the earlier the form the better guide to the s e llin meaning . I t wi ll be fou nd that p g wa s often so vagu e that even a lawyer in writing an old record or wi ll may spell a name differently in the same docu ment , and in most cases i n m e dimv a l times the sound of the word ruled its spelling . Some examples of multiform names i n

K ent I give here .

R G - 1225 EDENB ID E . E deling bridge , , Eth on b ri e 14 57 E d o n b r e e 14 73 E d i n b r e gg , gg , gg and E d in b re 1483 E t o n b ri e 1499 E t on b re g gg , gg , g

AX O R T I S I X S S N O J U H SUFF E . N the earliest days of which we have know ledge a ll K ent wa s practically either forest o r marsh , wi th a little cornland in Thanet and sheep pastu res i n S heppey , and it was plainly on the edges of th e forests (Blean and An d e ri d a ru nning right a cro ss the cou nty from Whitstable to Cranbrook) that the early settlers a from J utland m de their homes . Like pioneer backwoodsmen in Canada and elsewhere , they h a d t ﬁrst to clear of trees , and then o fence , the 2 5 spot each family had chosen . For years I have passed annu a lly through the agricu ltu ral districts of Belgiu m , Alsace , Lorraine , and

Swi tzerland (and sometimes France) , and two — thi ngs a lway s stri ke me that E ngli s h a g ri c ul t u r i s t s are not on the whole so thrifty , so tidy , or so hardworking , as their Continental brethren , and that abroad they seem to have neither need nor desire fo r hedges or other fences . Our S colonists in E ngland , however , how in place names how neces sary they though t enclosures to be .

Fi rst the re i s the ubiquitou s t on as a suffix . f E lla E lli n s The sons of , the g , made their E lling ton . N ow ton mean s an enclosu re , and especially enclosed land with a dwelling thereon . Then it comes to signi fy the hou se on the e n “ ” a clo su re . I n Scotl nd even now the toun i s n d K the fa rmhou se a outbuildings , and i n ent I “ find in a ch a rter of 14 32 a conveyance of land W a t t s h a h with all H ou ses called y g , for T n a u e . a s merly called Then , the original a hou se bec me a nucleus , and a hamlet swelled a a n d into a vi ll ge , a village into a town , we got ou r modern sense of the word , which , however , i s later th a n the N orman conqu est . “ ” e ld Even earlier than ton would be fi , which i s not the same as lea or mead , but 2 7 Sa x on or ]u ti s h Sufii xe s .

denotes a patch of felled or cleared land . So C h e ls fie ld O a kfie ld Ifie ld we have ou r , , , Broom fi e ld Swi n fie ld F a i r fie ld Ho t hfie ld , Wh itfield , g , , , St a li s fie ld C le x li e ld L o n fie ld Fi e ld re e n , , g , g , and N e t h e r fie ld K , i n the more forestal part of ent , wh ile i n the li st of p a rishes i n the Rochester w a diocese , here m rsh and down prevailed , I find — — i only one p a ri sh M a t fie ld wh c l . suggests old

felling of trees . Sometimes , however , there wou ld be attractive gl a des or le y s on th e out a ski rts of the forest , alre dy pastured or cu lti

v a red to a cert a in extent . H ence arose not only

- - - place names , but n ick names (su r names came much l a ter) of person s wh o lived or worked

therein , such as J ohn of the H orse Ley , J ohn of

the Cow Ley , J ohn of the S heep Ley , J ohn of

a . the Swine Ley , wh ich l ter became su rnames 22 K I saac Taylor enumerates leys i n Central ent , bu t one c a nnot test hi s ﬁgu res without knowing

- what m a p he u sed . H ence a s place names our a H rtley , Swanley , Langley , Bromley , Oakley or

Ockley , H ockley , Bickley , Whitley , Boxley , M d le r y y , Ba ley , Brenchley , E lmley , Ripley , G o r s e le Angley , Beverley , y Wood , H arley , Plu c kle v , Th rowley , Bexley , Leybou rne , S hirley , K e lm s le y , Ridley , Tudeley , etc . a n d a r e D e n s Then there we re , , the , forty t wo a K of them in Centr l ent , says I saac Taylor ; '

. W e a ld o K e n t a but M r Furley , in hi s f , says th t the great m a nor of Aldington alone possessed

- I forty fou r dens . t wa s prob a bly a Celtic word a a dopted by the Saxon s , and design ted a wooded a v lley mostly u sed for swine p a stu re . So we a a h ve the Ardenne forest in Fr nce and Belgium , a n d el sewhere i n Engl a nd Henley in A rden and

the Forest of Arden , which stretched from

Gloucestershi re to Nottingham . Down to the 1 7th centu ry the “ Cou rt of the Den s ” was held a a at Aldi ngton , ne r Hythe , to determine p stu re

rig hts and wrongs . One cannot enu merate a ll the K entish den s which might be found not only on the map but 28 Pla ce a m i N e s n K e n t .

in old manorial record s . I n old Tenterden alone Pi t t e s d e n St r e n c hd e n there were , Igglesden , , G a t e s d e n Bu le s d e n Fi n c hd e n Godden , , gg , , T wi s d e n L o v e d e n e Ha ff e n d e n e Br i s n n e , , , se d e , Ha ld e n e Ha ld e n e , and Little as manors , of some of wh ich even the names have departed . I ﬁnd that of the 16 pari shes in th e ru ral deanery of b u r st West Charing eight end in den and ﬁve in , and I think Fu rley i s i n error when he says that only 1 6 extant p a ri shes (as distinct from manors) K in ent end in den . A small original settlement i n a den might soon increase in size even in a e rly Saxon times , and so we have severa l e pari shes and man o rs called D ento n . Oth r loc a l place - names which are due to their position in the old forest land a re those which end in h r t s a . y o r , l ter , hu rst H u rsts and Cherts were the denser parts of the forest , and the word i s s a id to apply specially to wooded high ground .

The two words may be originally the same , with the old German H art (whence the H artz moun tains) , a s parent . So we have Bredhurst , Goud a hu rst , H wkhu rst , H u rst Wood near Peckham , a Pen shu rst , S ndhu rst , Staplehu rst , Chart , and two or three score more . — Another forest name i s H o lt o r H ot more K common in Su rrey than in ent . The German i s H oltz , which mean s both a wood and wood the material . I t i s also a common preﬁx o r

sufﬁx in Iceland . I saac Taylor gives u s only K one H olt in his table , for Central ent at any a K Bi rc hh o lt r te , bu t we know nockholt beeches , Ac h o lt near S meeth , an (Oakwood) i n each of

the manors of Dartford , Wingham , and Monk

ton , and H ot Wood ; while further study i s necessary to determine whether from H olt or Ho t hﬁe ld from H oath or H oth (a heath) come ,

O xe n h oa t h a . , and H oath or H oad ne r Recu lver Another common sufﬁx in the neighbou rh oo d “ of ancien t forests , says I saac Taylor , i s — ” - a c Héc he en . Hatch hit h gate , in Fr ch H e S a on E le me n ts i n la ce N m e s 29 x P a .

K gives no example from ent , bu t we know our

Chartham H atch , Ivy H atch , and M ersham S n l V l o l . P o d H atch and H atch or Weald , a w ood , i s not so common as one wou ld expect , ' w e VV m n swo ld but have S ibertswold and y y , and \V l e r s h r S n oe d Waltham and a d a e . i s a Saxon w 8 ord for a piece of wood i n th centu ry charters , Ha m e r s n t h and thi s su rvives i n o nea r Romney , F r i s n o t h a Nod Wall near Lydd , ne r Appledore , Sib e r s n od e in the Hu ndred of Ham , S node H ill , S n od e h u r s t S n o d e b e a m , Snodland , and , a manor i n Yalding .

SOM E COM MON S AX ON ELE MENT S IN

A - AM S PL CE N E .

—HA M = Ha m — me an s homestead , but hamm an enclosu re or bend in a rive r , the former being the more common . I t i s only by early Saxon documents th a t we can tell which word i s meant .

Alkham for the ﬁrst , perhaps the H undred of

H am for the latter . G IN , in the middle or end of a name mean s ” sons of . A ﬁnal li ng i s also a patronym ic when the name ends in 0 1 or ele . Thu s Don n i n t n g o i s the settlement of the son s of Donna , and as Di dling or D u d e lyn g i n Su ssex (with 13th D e d li n D e d li n e centu ry forms of g and g , wa s derived from D yd d e li n g a s descendants of D d d e l y , thi s may th row some light on Detl ing K in ent .

- = M E R E la ke e m aer u a . , or g bound ry Lakes K Ba dd le s m e r e are few i n ent , so may i ndicate a a M a r e w e bound ry , wh ile Mereworth (anciently ) M e a r e s ﬂe t a may i ndicate neither . e i n Th net , a a a m a a and Mere , mano r i n R i nh m , y poi nt to a personal n a me . W lmer i s said to be named a from the m rshy ground behi nd the Wall , or old

. rai sed beach , which begin s by Walmer Castle 30 Pla ce N a m e s i n K e n t .

BROC = a K b rook , as in the dialects of ent and

- Su ssex , also low lying ground , not necessarily a o with ru nning w ter . So Bro k , and Brookland , K i r k and db o o . BURN A = t r m S e a . S o Bou rne , Littlebourne , etc . C N O L L = hillock (C n ol in Welsh and knol i n K K Swedish) . So nole , and perhaps nockholt . = C O P a . top or head , German kopf Our Copt

Point . C UM B = , or comb a hollow in a hillside , or a U narro w valley . So lcombe . A word borrowed from the Celtic . = D E L L I . OW ground o r valley . H ence Deal

EA= w - e a t e r . a , river So Stu r , now Stu rry , f or watery land . S o probably Romney , rom

z R im te r é a n . e . u e a . Bu t y also i s g o g i sland

- Sce a . pige , now I sle of Sheppey

DENU i s a valley , and denn a retreat , bu t these often interchange in early forms with dun , which survives in ou r downs , and Down , the village . — FOR D . H ere we have to di stinguish between the S axon ford (a natu ral place - name when ﬁo r d bridges a s yet were few) , and , wh ich i s pu rely coastal , and comes from ou r N orse marauders . Thu s Ashford and Deptford come from qu ite different words . RA G F , in Saxon , i s ou r grove , so that Ash

1 [ - 8 . grove pu re Saxon , E sc graf A H E LL mean s a hall , or larger hou se , and may be si mply the Latin aula , especially a s place name s endi ng i n hall are more frequ ent near

. a lso Roman centres But there i s halk , a corner or angle , which may su it other places . Our several Whitehalls wou ld indicate the former word . The Saxon HEATH su rvives unaltered i n some a lso a cases , and as H o th , and perhaps as H oth H thﬁ l in o e d . S a on E le m e n s i n la ce a m e s 31 x t P N .

HL IN C , a slope , accou nts fo r the Linch and Li n c h ﬁe ld a a t in Detling , a cultiv ted slope the foot of the Downs . More common in Su ssex . w Golfers i ll recogni se the word .

H6H = a hough or heel of land , whence our H Hu ndred of O O .

HYR C G B i s ou r ridge , and names ridge , and l r i C o b d e . g , and S undridge

HYL L = 0 u r hi ll , partly names many places , B o s e hill . , H inxhill , Maze H ill , I de H i ll , etc ; bu t

I thi nk there a re more in Su ssex , where Roberts

- enumerates forty eight .

M E R S C = m a rc h — whence Stodmarsh , Bu r W m r h M h n a e s t a s a rs t o . marsh , Mersh m , ,

R O RA fﬁ OFE and are di cult to di stinguish i n u se , the former meaning b a nk or shore and the latter E lln bank of a strea m . o r and Oare may come from the former , and Bicknor and Denoyer (on the Beu lt) from the latter . E L L W IE L L W YL L , , , as a preﬁx , becomes ou r well . W UD U = w a u t wu d o od . S o Saltwood i s S in 1230 .

BE O R G = a a b e o r e hill , d tive g , i s easily con BU R G = b u Sh b r fu sed with , dative y g , a fortified place , and then a city . From the former we get b e o h ou r modern g , ber or barrow ; from the a n d ffi latter ou r prefix Bu r , the su xes borough ,

a n d . bu rg , boro , bu ry The ﬁrst syllable of

Be o r . Bea rsted may be either g or Beore , bi rch Canterbu ry i s the bu rg o r fortiﬁed city of the

n w K - C a t a ra or ent folk . = HI. U a a bu ri l mound , developi ng later into fﬁ a n d m a the su x low , lane , lew , y be fou nd in a n d a Hadlow , perh ps i n the Hund red s o f Ry n g e lo a n d C o r n ilo i n the Lathe of Bo r owa rt ’ (now S . Augu stine s) . Considering the m a i nly forest a l characte r o f K Saxon ent , i t i s n ot strange that many places 32 Pla ce N a m e s i n K e n t .

Ac = oa k are named from tree s . Thu s , appears 2 h l A kh n 138 0 O ck o t c a e r . 1 i n , g , Ockley in Ash ford , Ashhu rst , and several Ashes . Ou r N ursted a was N u t s t e d e earlier . Perh ps to Ac also we ’ m a y refer H ocker s Lane i n Detling as a preﬁx t o another Saxon. word , ofer , a shore or b ring , though i t may also be but a corruption of Oak

- ham . I n nu merou s place names , especially those ! derived from trees , we ﬁnd thi s su fﬁx Oakover Ha se lov e r (in Derbyshi re) , Ashover , , Bi rchover , commonly shortened into Oaker , Asher , H asler ,

- and Bircher . So the lane near the oak tree or

- O no oak wood would be akover Lane , Oaker ’ Ocker Lane , and eventually H ocker s Lane . r With but one cottage in it , I can ﬁnd no t adi tion or trace of any personal name from which it might be called .

APULD O R , a s for appletree , remain s i n Apple dore ; Bi rce or beore , perhaps i n Bearsted , Bir Be k e h r s t ch ingtou u .

BO X b x e t h e , or y (derived from Lat in buxu s) names many place s , and early forms in Bex ,

Bix , Bux , a re fou nd both as to Boxley and Bo x hill Bexley , a s with and Bexhill i n other cou nties . = in HO L E G N h o le n . , adj of holly , survives H ollingbou rne and Holborough ; PE R (pear) i n Pe r h a m st e a d ; C HER RY in Cheriton PLU M in E L M Plu mstead ; i n E lmley , Elmstone , E lm

a - ste d , but only the wych elm was indigenou s , R and called Wice by the Sax on s . THO N we ﬁnd in Thornham .

AG A HAW H , a Sax on same su rvives in our h e l thorn , and may p u s to u nderstand the mean i ng of Eyth orne , nea r Dover , and the H u nd red E h o rn e . of y , in which Detling i s situated The

h i . He t o r n e . e early name of Eythorne i s gy , , H aw - a n d O f E t h o r d e E h o rn e thorn , the Hu ndred y o r y 4 13 7 A . D . (so from ) might well be the same , and named from th e hamlet of I ron Street i s

34 Pla c e Na m e s in K e n t .

BE BE R = v e r b e a . Beavers ﬂou ri shed in Eng i n land even h i storical times , and gave their name to Beverley , Beaverbrook , etc . May ! Beaver , near Ashford , derive thu s And the Beverley at Canterbu ry ! — PE ARR o c = li t e ra lly a grating a place fenced in for deer , etc . S o Park and Paddock . Pad dock Wood .

HR E E D = r e e d . Ou r Reedham possibly ; but it i s not on marshy grou nd .

‘ HYT HAE = G e e n h t h e a . r harbou r Our Hythe , y ,

N ew Hythe ( East Malling) , S mall H ythe (Ten t e rd e n E r e hit h e— ) , West Hythe , and E rith ( the old landing - place for L e s n e s Abbey on the

Thames) .

T HYRN E z t h r n o . Ou r Thornham . C IS I r a v e l C s e lhu r st n . Ou r C hi slehurst ( y in or gravelly wood .

C N O L = hill- K K top , as in nowle , nowle H ill (in K Boughton Malherbe) , and nowlton .

Z l BE YR S t e d . . , cottage Dr Sweet make s it the same as Bur (modern Bower) . H ence perhaps ou r Burham and Bu rmarsh ; bu t the o ld forms of Bu rha—m would point rather to Borow or Borough the walled settlement .

AE S C = O u r a S h . Ash , Ashenden , Ashford ,

Ashley , and Ashu rst . = HL E P le . a He rt e le e . p H ence H artlip , of old p

There are two places thu s named .

PIRG E = e a n p a r tree . Possibly Perrywoo d d Pe rh m s Perry S treet . And a t e d e accord ing to a u thorities .

M - T RE U = lu m PLU p tree . H ence Plu mstead and Plumpton !

FAE RH = a you ng pig , whence ou r word

farrow . Considering that the rearing of swine

wa s the chief occupation i n the dens , I wonder that n o one h a s suggested thi s wor d for the ﬁrst

syllable of Farleigh and Fairlight . S a o n E le m e n t s i n Pla ce Na m e 35 x s .

BRYC G = r i b d e . w g The Saxon had the ord , bu t not many bridges Most of ou r eleven pl a ce names i n K ent cont ai ning thi s wo rd are of post a w Saxon d te , hile we have ﬁfteen fords . = SAE s e . a So ou r Seasalter a n d Se a brook .

A = k V A h l A C oa . \ e ck o t A r se have , Acol , c y , O ckh lt K Oakhurst , Oakley , and o (now nock holt) .

E L M U . , borrowed from the Latin l mus The

- Witch elm , called Wice in Saxon , i s i ndigenou s , the other elm i mported . We have E lmley , E lm stead , and E lmstone . ST —t di MI EL mi stletoe (ta . fem . g) may r M i le h m l st a . appea in , near App edore

AE L l a C c a f . The S xon name fo r Challock

— - w a s C a clf n i . a . . loca , , enclosed place for calves t h The second syllable sugge sts e Lati n locu s , but

i . e . . i s the sou rce of ou r Engli sh Lock , , shut up S o the locks on the river ; and pound s for str a y “ ” ing cattle are lokes in East Anglia .

- z PL E G HU S E S t h e a t re s (or recreation grounds) .

Ou r Plai stow a n d Plaxtol .

A z w l e l S YL a l O g place . So our nu merou s

S oles , which I later enumerate . = D IM HU S a n d D IM HO F h id i n g or d a rk place .

Ou r Dymchu rch are in st a nces .

C R o c c a n d HW E RA S a re both S a xon for pots . Few know w hat pu re Saxon they u se when they

- w a s a a ta lk of crockery w a re . Pottery lw ys a great indu stry from Sittingbou rne to Shepp ey , a n d the Roman s a ppreci a ted and extended i t . m C ro kh a m Thi s a y a ccount for ou r H ill , Crock k h r C r o c kh u r s t a n d C ro c s a d . ham , Street , = h k n s S t . A n lu r a l c ic e . e . COCC , g p Cock , C o c kh a m C o c k s hill a C o c ka d a m Wood . , Coxhe th ,

a - U Shaw , while i n Detling we h ve Cock hill , pper m a n d . a Lowe r Cox Street Some y , of cou rse , be modern and personal names ; but I cannot so trace them . Pl m i n 36 a ce Na e s Ke n t .

O I d B LEY H LL , near Rochester , was un oubtedly a place of civic importance in very early days . I t was a Dani sh meeting place c orresponding to

- ou r shire mote at Pennington H eath , and we may best trace its name to a Dani sh word which — we still u se the bole of a tree . Thi s i s found in vari ou s parts of the Dani sh di strict of Lincoln shi re , and the reference may be to the hill with a fam ou s tree u nder which the court of the com munity wa s held . Trees , a s well as cromlech s or great stones , were common landmarks in — Saxon times hence ou r variou s Stones in K ent . o f Others , however , consider it a corruption t h e Beau lieu , a name given by Templars t o the sites of thei r preceptories , and they instance a

Boley or Bully Mead in East London , which belonged to the Templars . And others , becau se of its ancient legal associations , think it should be Bailey H ill , and refer u s to the Old Bailey in

London . — ! O Hill FA R LEI GH . n a clear day from Detling we can see , n ot only Farleigh , near Maidstone , but

Fai rlight Church , near H astings . I n Saxon days

- and documents these place names were the same , e F e r le a and so in Domesday ach i s g , th e fa re i n o r passage or g through the pastu res leys , o T r u le a ju st as ou r modern Thr wley i s g , with the scribes ’ variation s i n 12 t h centu ry deed s of

T h ru le h e T r u lle d -a T ru le a T h r u le e g , , , g , and T r l u d e e . a i t l g F rlight , herefore , i s simp y a modern corruption after a fashion which once corrupted the name of Leigh , near Tonbridge , 14 35 Li t h 1 5 13 which I ﬁnd written Legh i n , g in , L h 1 525 L h 1531 e t . yg in , and yg i n I t has been suggested that the ﬁrst syllable may indicate a a personal name , F er ; bu t thi s seems less tenable .

R STA - a Be or BO LL , from the Anglo S xon g , a hill , and stal , a dwelling (as i n Tu nstall) , means a path u p a steep hill . So there i s Borstall H ill Bo s t a ll near Rochester , Hi ll near Woolwich , and B b orstall Hi ll y Whitstable . And I have noted S a x o n E le m e n t s i n la ce a m e s 37 P N .

’ — a passage i n VVhit e s S e lbo r n e h e made a path up the wooded steep hill near hi s V icarage called “ ! the H anger , and he writes Now the leaf i s Bo s t a ll down , the di scovers itself i n a faint , deli ” cate line running up the H anger . —L m E A ST RY . a b a rd e thought thi s village wa s

- so named to distinguish i t from West Rye , now

called simply Rye , bu t the places are too far w apart , especially hen the great forest of An i M C lu r d e r d a . c e came between them , ou r

- most recent au thority on British place names , w Ru ii ould refer i t to the g , a Continental clan

from the I sland of Rugen i n the Baltic , whom t h r he ﬁnd s represented in S ﬁ yg e (Su rrey) . So

- r e he wou ld make the word East yg , and i n a 780 E a s t r e n a charter of it i s yg , and in another E s r e a t yg . But amongst the variou s early spell E s r E a st e re e i . e . a t o e ings i s y , , gg (No , not Easter E 929 ast r . Egg l) , the island of o I n a will of , f E t h e ln ot h E a st o r e e , the reeve to g , i s men

t io n e d . N ow the next pa ri sh i s Woodnesborough , the town of Woden , th e Saxon god . S o here may well be , named at the same time and by the E ast o r same people , the name of , the goddess of ffi spring ; while , as to its su x , the centre of the village stand s higher than the rest , and i s almost entirely surrou nded by a valley , though not now a by water . Fewer greater authorities th n Pro f s r r l e so Skeat a e to be found , and he inc ines to thi s interpretation . — i n t e r r e FOL K E STONE . H ere we find several p t a t i n s . o , the more modern bei ng the most absu rd Thu s Phillip ot t suggests the town fu ll of folk ! and Mu rray ’ s H andbook to K ent Fu lke ’ s Town ! (whoever thi s Fulke may have been) Both , a however , forgot th t the final syllable i s always stane or stone , and not ton . Another imaginative worthy says that its stone qua rries were much 13 14 u sed in the th and th centu ries , and belon g ed to the commun ity , and so i t wa s the Folks Stone ! Folc la n d we know ; Folc m o t e we know 38 la ce N m P a e s in K e n t .

‘ ! but what i s thi s The An g lo S a x on Chr on i cle F olce s st a n e says that H arold seized ships at , and F a l h t n in Domesday it appears as c e s a . Harri s si mply Latinizes the name and cal ls i t Lapi s N i n n iu s populi , the stone of the people , and a s in 8 h ( t cent . ) there i s a reference i n hi s descripti on “ of E ngland to the stone o f inscripti o n on the

Gallic sea , which some would i dentify with ma Folkestone he y b e more right than he knew .

- LA XTO . I K P L , near S evenoaks n many entish pari shes (and elsewhere) the name Ple ys t ole or Pla ys t oo l clings to a piece of land on which miracle and other plays were acted when amu se

a - a t ments had to b e m inly home grown . So

Lynsted , H erbert Fi nch , i n the sixth year o f “ a Pla s ta ll e t Queen E liz beth , bequeathed the y Pl s t ll r f a y o c o t fields . A va rian t of the name we S may find i n Plai stow , by B romley . o in Sel borne (Gilbert White ’ s renowned village) the Ple st o r i s the old playgrou nd . Would that in all villages , e speci ally since the looting of old com t o m ons , there migh t be a field thu s consecrated healthy recr e ati on . Amongst the sou rces of enlightenment as to the meaning of ou r place - names I have turned to D a the volu me of the E ngli sh i lect Society , which K n ti h D i a le ct a n d r ov i n ci a li s m s i s on the e s P , w a h a n d a s prepared by the Revs . W . D . P ri s

. . . o and W F Shaw I t d es not contain , a s I have o u r fou nd , nearly all local word s , and not a few of the word s it d oes give are by any means K peculia r to ent . S till , i t i s u sefu l and interest K i ng , and i t may well be that some of ou r ent

- a K e s ec i place n mes are almost pecu liar to ent , p a llv as the neig hbou ring cou nties of Su ssex and a K E ssex were populated by S xons , bu t ent was pop u lated by the Jutes , and no doubt thei r common ton g u e had its tribal variation s . I take from thi s dictionary all t h e word s which a re

- illu strative of place names . S axon E le m e n t s i n la e a m e 39 P c N s .

= - FOR S TALL a farm yard before a hou se ; a paddock near a farm hou se ; or the farm build i ngs . As a local name , Forestalls seem t o ” T w have abou nded i n K ent . o insta nces a re given ; bu t I have noted Broken Forestall , Buck ’ w ley ; Clare s Fo restall , Thro ley ; Mersham

Forstall ; Forstall Farm , Egerton ; The Forstall , ’ VVi n h a m H unton ; Preston Forstall , g ; Painter s ’ Forestall , Ospri nge ; H unter s Forstall , Herne ; F o s t a l , He rne H i ll ; Forstall , Lenham ; Forstall , ’ Aylesford ; S hepherd s Forstall , Sheldwich and n o doubt there are more . “ T YE — An . extensive common pasture , such as ’ a Ti e Waldersh re Tie and Old Wives Lees , and 1 5 10 ’ in a docu ment of , a croft called Wolves O l n t i h . a Tie I wou ld add the places called g ,

W e - r one nea r y a n d another near Fordwich . Teig i s really a Norse word meaning a piece of grass land , and when borrowed o r u sed by the Saxons a it became Tig r , Tig and Tey in such place ’ names as Mark s Tey . “ E L E T — A K l i YO K . n old name i n ent for a ttle ’ farm or manor . Cake s Yoke i s the name of a O f farm i n Cru ndale . The yoke wa s a measu re land , probably such as one yoke of oxen could plough . Thu s it correspond s to the Latin jugu m ,

a . which mean s a yoke , an d al so a l nd measu re We have also West Yoke i n Ash - next - Ridley ; Yo kle t i n , a borough , Waltham ; land so named in Saltwood ; and Ickha m wa s of old Ye ckh a m S e o k a I h a m A . o r oc c , from the y , yoke of a rable I l t land . occ e is al so g iven in th e dicti onary a s a K entici sm for a small fa rm . —“ G A a a . BOD E . mea su re of corn , bou t bu shel Bod e b u r M a y thi s su g g est a deriv a tion for g y , some land with a cottage thereon , part of the old glebe o f Detlin g ! “ R — - n B ENT . The M iddle Engli sh word Bre t mo st commonly me a nt bu rnt bu t there w a s a n r] another B rent , adjective which si g niﬁe ” steep . Thu s Brentwood in E ssex i s the same 40 Pl a ce Na m e s i n K e n t .

as Burnt Wood in Detling , but the Brents or

N orth Preston near Faversham , and the Brent Gate therein refer to the steep contou r of the

. C land A eltic root , found i n Wel sh as bryn , a ridge , accounts for many such names as Brendon Bi rwo od H ill , Forest , Brandon , a ridge in E ssex ,

B re a n d own - - near Weston super Mare , and many

Swi ss and German names for steep places .

RT C . COU , or ourt Lodge The manor hou se , ” where the court leet of the manor is held . S o in Detling we have East Cou rt and West C ourt becau se , i n default of a s on , the old manor wa s divided between two co - heiresses in the 16th

- centu ry . S o we have a s place names North

Cou rt in Eastling , a Cou rt at Street i n Lympne , besides very many names of old hou ses , such a s

C . Eastry Cou rt , Selling ou rt , etc ”

W . DO N A piece of high Open ground , n ot K peculiar to ent , but perhaps more u sed here U w than elsewhere . Thu s we have pd o n in Ha r t s d own E astry , and Northdown i n Thanet , ” Leysdown in Sheppey , and Barham Down s . I ’ K ’ may add Putt ock s Down (the ite s Down) , K three villages called ingsdown , Derry Downs , Ha cke m dow n Ha rb le Downe , , D own , H ou se K iln d ow n Un d e rd o wn s r o down , , two , besides p bably some of the names ending i n don . The

- Celtic dun , a hill fortress , found all over Eu rope , i s directly found in ou r Croydon , a s in London ,

Dun stable , etc . , and the Saxon extended its u se , especially in the plural , to high ground , whether T re v i s crowned with a fort or camp o r not . a “ wrote i n 1 398 A d o wne i s a lyt e l swe llyn g e or a r e syn g e (arising) of e r t h e p a s syn g e the playne grou nd and not r e tc hyn g to hyghn e s se of an hylle .

R G F . r . F I HT or rith A thin , sc ubby wood B r S O the Fright Wood s near e dge b u y . And I learned to skate as a boy a t the Fright Farm on

Dover Castle H ill . Thi s may account for Frith

d . by N ewnham , and possibly also for Fritten en

T HE R M N I N K N N O TH E E T .

F UR ORE N OR M AN OR UM was a peti tion i n an old litany in England before it

had gained that name . And with reason , for th e success of Angles , Jutes and S axon s in the conquest of England d rew the attention of

Scandinavian and other Vikings , wh o found that b oo t c ou ld y be gained by rapid raids . I t was at the end of the eighth centu ry that th e Danes (as they came to be called , although the wider “ Northmen wou ld be a better term) , reached the land of the Angles , coming from N orway to

Dorset , and generally harrying the eastern and southern coasts for a couple of hu ndred years .

They also remained and settled , mainly to the n orth of the H u mber , until at last the greater part of England came under thei r power , and in 101 6 C nu t became the Danish K ing of Eng land . Ou r forefathers in K ent should have ou r sym pathy for the continuou s state of alarm i n which 832 they were kept . I n Scandinavian pi rates 838 ra vaged Sheppey . I n they won a battle i n

- M r w r e i . e . e s c a th e land of the Marsh folk , ,

Romney Marsh) , and slew many i n Canterbury . I n 851 nine of thei r piratical ships were taken in Lo n d o v ic ZE t h e ls t a n battle at (Sandwich) by , the u nder - king of K ent ; but they remained to winter a a n d i n Th net for the ﬁrst time , in the same year 350 of their ship s entered the Thames and took both C a n t wa ra b u rg and Lundenbu rg (Lond on) . 853 K I n the men of ent , under the Alderman E a l h e r e c , with th e men of Su rrey , fought in

Tenet (Thanet) , but were worsted . N ext year

- 865 they wintered in Sc e a p ig e (Sheppey) . I n the men of K ent tried to bu y off the heath en i n

K . vaders , who , however , ravaged all East ent lf 871 Then arose the great man , A red , who in Th e N or th m 4 3 e n i n K e n t . h a d eight battles with the Danes south of the 885 f Thames . I n they besieged Hro sce a s t r e K i t ( Rochester) , bu t ing Alfred !relieved , and t o the Danes took thei r ships , having lost all 893 their horses . I n two hundred and ﬁfty Lim e n e m ou t h Danish ships came to (Lympne) ,

took thei r ﬂeet fou r miles u p the river , and made A u ld o r e a strong fort at p , whil e Hasting with 80 a ships entered the Thames estu ry , made a Sce ob ri fort at M ilton , a nd later one at y g (Shoe 969 B bu ry) . I n adg er orders Tenet land to be 980 pillaged , and i n Thanet i s overru n by the 986 H f r Danes . I n the bi shopric of ro ce a s t e was 99 deva stated . I n 3 a ﬂ eet of nearly fou r hundred “ ” ships came to Stone , which may be the one in a the I sle of Oxney , o r another near F versham

on the Watling S treet , or another on the Swale , Sa n dwic and went on to , which was thei r chief

southern haven , and emb od ies in its name the Scandinavi a n wic or bay ( Sa n dwic i s a common

- place name in Iceland and Norway) . 994 An la f K a n d I n , ing of N orway , Sweyn , K 500 ing of Denmark , with a ﬂeet of nea rly , K failed to take London , bu t ravaged ent and 998 other counties . I n they sailed u p the Med

way estuary to Rochester , and there beat the K 1005 n dwic enti sh a rmy . I n a ﬂeet came to Sa

and despoi led the country . 1007 I n E ngland despai red , and paid a tribu te ’ of whi le T hu rk e ll s a rmy c a me to Sand w ich and thence to Canterbu ry , where the people of E a st K ent bought peace at the cost of while the Danes spent the winter i n repairing

1- 012 thei r ships . I n they took Canterbu ry and f E lfh e a h marty red the Archbishop , better known Al h 1 1 e . 0 3 to u s a s S . p e g I n Sweyn came a g ai n to S a ndwich ; bu t in 1014 Ead mund ( Edmund K Ethelin g) attacked the Danes i n ent , d rove b them into S heppey , and met thei r leader i n attle ZE l r 1016 a t g e s fo d a (A y lesford) . Bu t in Cnu t a a K ( C nu te) bec me ing of all En g land , and to 18 him in 10 wa s paid in tribute . 44 Pla ce N m a e s i n K e n t .

1203 Al h I n the body of S . p e g e was allowed

by Cnu t to be taken to Canterbu ry , and England 1 4 remained a Danish p rovince . I n 0 0 H arda Cnu t was brought from B ruges to succeed K Harold a s ing , an d landed at S andwich . I n 104 6 Thanet was ravaged again by the North men bu t in 1049 K ing E dward gathered a great

ﬂ eet at Sandwich against Sweyn , and later this D mr e n t a m u t ha D a r e n t m ou h ﬂeet lay at t , ’

i . e . 1051 K Dartford) . I n ing E dward s brother

i n - law , Eu stace , lost some followers in a fracas D at o fra (Dover) .

But a great change was imminent , and Eng

land was to change one domination for another , and in 1052 Wilhelm (afterward s the Conqueror) vi sited K n g E dward the Confess o r (or S aint)

with a great host of Normans , and he exiled

E arl Godwin , who came from Bruges to Noesse

(Dungeness) wa s d riven back . Returning with

h i s son H arold to Dungeness , they took all the Ru m e n e a ships they cou ld ﬁnd at (Romney) , F l o ce s s t a n e . H eda ( Hythe) , and Thence to D ofra Sa n dwic and , ending u p with ravaging M idd e lt u n S heppey and (M ilton , near Sitting 1066 bou rne) . Then , i n , Harold dies in battle at a n d H astings , William b egin s ou r N orman

dynasty , N orthmen being succeeded by

N ormans . Traces of the vi sits to K ent are found in

- variou s place names , though more common in

other parts of B ritain , and indeed in other

cou ntries , since a s marauders , colonists , or con q u e ro rs they were for three centu ries th e terror

a . of Eu rope , from Icel nd to I taly The many fﬁ o r t h r o places with the su xes byr by , th orpe , p ,

or trop . toft , thwaite , vi lle in Normandy , or well

and will i n E ngland , garth , beck , haugh , with ,

tarn , dale , fo rce , fell , are all almost exclu sively

n orthern to K ent a n d mainly Norwegian . As to “ 600 by for town , there are north of the

Thames and east of Watling S treet , and hardly any in the south . Th e one apparent exception in Th r 45 e N o thm e n i n Ke n t .

K — K — i t ent Horton i rkby is no exception , for was simply H orton until the time of Edward the w K r o m L a n ca s hi r e First , hen Roger de irkby , f , m a rried a K enti sh heiress a n d the manor a n d

- place were r e named after him .

We have , however , certain record s of their piratical visits , a s at Deptford and Fordwich , where th e termination i s not the Anglo - Saxon ford , meaning a passage across a river , but the ﬁ r d o . N orse , a roadstead for ships Deptford is the ﬁo r d S deep . where hips cou ld ancho r close to ” a a n d the b nk , Fordwich , the smallest limb of the Cinque Ports , was once the port of Canter o u bu ry the Stou r , and gives u s wic , the Norse

i n e for station for sh . a small creek or bay . So , K in ent , we have also from the same sou rce

Wick in Romney Marsh , Greenwich , Woolwich ,

a . and S ndwich I nland , however , Wich or Wi ck , i s an Angl o- Saxon borrowing from the Latin V icu s , and mean s hou ses or a village . K Another N orse word i n ent i s N ess or Naze , a s a nose or promontory , such Dungeness , Shoe b u r n e s s Pe e r n e s s She lln e s s y , pp , Fou lness , , f Sheerness , S harpness Cli f at Dover , whence V Vh i t e n e s s F o re n e s s criminals were hu rled , , , a Bartlett Nes s and Oakh m N ess . The Nore , in K N or ent , i s the N orse , or perhaps Jutish , , a bay with a narrow entrance , and the word i s u niqu e in B ritain , unless we may find it also i n N m r h o r a s . a a , near Rainham Ag i n attribut ble to ou r invaders , and again pu rely coastal , a re th e a i o t pl ces ending in fl , a small river or creek , such N o r t hfle e t S ou t hfle e t E bb s fle e t w a s , , , ith Pu r

ﬂe e t on the opposite bank of the Thames . Thanet and Sheppey were for u s thei r chief points of a attack and thei r naval stations , while the D ne lag h or K ingdom whence the Norse element pre dominated had the Wash a s the chief entrance a whence they radi ted ou t . “ ” The sufﬁx gate m a y be either from the

Saxon geat or the Scandinavian gata , but when 46 Pl ce Na m e a s i n K e n t .

D a r a t e we ﬁnd Ramsgate , g , Margate , West K a a ll gate , ingsgate , Snarg te , and Sandgate , h on the coast , w ile in Romney Marsh gu t “ ” K u t takes the place of gate , a s in J ervi s , C lob e sd e n Gut , and Denge M arsh Gut , we may incline to a Scandinavian origin .

I t i s i n the north , and the north only according fﬁ r e re to the best au thorities , that the su x ing p

e n - sents the N orse g for grass land .

T HE S AN S O K EN I L D F T .

OST i slands are attached portion s of the

nearest mainland , severed in prehi storic times by sub sidence of th e i ntervening soil and the action O f strong cu rrents . Thu s even England i s a portion of the Continent , as a its faun and ﬂora proclaim , while I reland was severed earlier still . Thu s also the I sle of Wight

. K i s H ampshi re So ou r enti sh i sland s , now only two and neither now to be effectually circu m navigated , are practically absorbed in the main “ — ! ” land . Sheppey , Thanet what else most w N e n n iu s ou ld say . Yet the early geographer , writing in the e ighth centu ry , has the following quaint passage —“ Th e ﬁrst marvel i s the Lorn ” “ mon Marsh Limen , now Romney) , for i n it are 340 i slands with men a nd women l iving 340 on them . I t i s girt by rocks , and in every ’ a n d 340 rock i s an eagle s nest , rivers ru n into it , and there goes out of i t into the sea bu t one L m n e . r river , which i s called the T u ly a pic t u re s u e q accou nt of the numerou s spots , where d r y land ﬁrst appeared i n the shallow bay , and the cou ntless slu ices which intersected them . “ ROMNEY ” i s probably formed by the addition E o r E a — a of the Saxon I ge , y , i sl nd , to the Ru im— a n earlier Celtic l marsh , and so give s i dea of what the di strict was before the Roman s Th e I l 4 s a n ds of K e n t . 7 reclaimed much by bu ilding thei r great Rhee

Wall . Certain names i n Romney M arsh pre X served the same history . O ENBY (still we have the I sland and the H undred of Oxney , contai n ' i ng VVi t t e r sh a m and Stone pari shes) i s even now insu lated by two branches of the Rother , and here , i n the ancient and now diverted channel , was found in 1 824 an oaken ship bu ried deep in sand and mud . I ts name i s said to mean the i sle of the fat beeves . On paga n altars discovered t there oxen were carved , and still i t i s a grea

- cattle raising district . We should look now in vai n for the three ferri es by which it was once entered . I n its centre i s EBONY , no doub t “ a a E b e n e origin lly a sort of i sland , once c lled y ” in Oxney , and i n an early document i t appears Hi n as b b e e . I t h a s been suggested that the ﬁrst f O i . e . part the word i s the old Celtic Avon , , water or river , and I ﬁnd that a Saxon charter 79 A D . of 3 . calls the Gloucester Avon by the name of Aben . The thi rd syllable i s , of cou rse , the Saxon word for i sland . Scotney Cou rt , Lydd , and Scotney Castle , Lamberhu rst , no doubt a Sc ot in i preserve the n me of the Barons de , who a S co t i n c me from g y in N orth France , and pos 12 sessed , i n the th centu ry , much land , which they held until the reign of Edward the Third , ’ while Scot s H all , near S meeth , was the seat of K nights of th a t name down to the time of the

Arm a da . But for thi s hi story one might have classed Scotney wi th Oxney and Ebony .

Coming now to SHEPPEY , still an i sland , washed on the north by the estua ry of the a Thames , on the west by th t o f the Medway , and a insu l ted by the Swale (Saxon Suala) , crossed a n d by a rai lway b ridge two ferries , the Celtic a M o hlt name i s s id to have been Malata , from , a a a sheep , which the S xon conquerors tran sl ted

- E L M L E v S ce a . i nto p ige , Sheep I sle I t includes a n d ART a H Y , once its little i sl nd s , and now He rt a i peninsulas . An old name for H arty was , 48 Pla ce Na m i e s n K en t . in which we may perhap s ﬁnd the S axon He ora t — — Ha rtb ou rn e stag , hart as in H artlip and , and e a— i sland . And E lmley , wh ich island would simply denote the ley or glade in the forest i n which elms were frequent , might here be Elm

. i sle t R A V N - E A i sle And another was G E , the grain i sland , on the opposi te side of the Swale , now in the Faversham marshes . A TH NET , the best kn own and most important 5 th i sland , wa s in the centu ry separated from the m ainland by the W a n t su m and the estuary of the

Stour , which gave an expan se of water mainly two mi les broad , so that vessels from or to Lon don sailed from Reculver to Richborough , and avoided the longer and rougher route round the

- North Foreland . To guard thi s sea way the Romans had placed their forts of Regulbiu m (Reculver) and R u t’u pia (Richborough) at its northern and eastern entrance . N ow , and for long , by the dwindling of the Stour and the prae W a n t s u m tical extinction of the , Thanet i s but 1570 i n name an i sland . Even writing i n , Lam barde calls it a pen in sula . I t i s said that its Rim n —a Celtic name wa s headland , and that its later Saxon name , Tenet , means a beacon . A D 80 Ad S li n u s wh . . o , o wrote abou t , calls it fo r D Tanatos (Thanatos , Greek eath , becau se its soil killed snakes even when exported for that N e n n iu s 8 th pu rpose , in the centu ry , says G u o rt hig e r n handed to H engist and H orsa the i sland , which in thei r langu age i s called Tenet , ” - Ru oihm Ru o ichim . but i n B riti sh speech , or n I n a charter of 679 it appears as T e id . The M cC lu r e name , says , may involve the Celtic G la st e n e c Tann for oaks , as in , an early form of

Glastonbu ry , su rviving in the Engli sh , Tanner ,

Tanyard , etc . F rom thi s root i s derived the

- T e n id B re t o ri place name T a n n ou e t . i s its oldest S a x on C hr on i cle Saxon form , and the record s that i n 969 Badgar ordered T e n e tlan d to be pillaged .

50 Pia ce N a me s i n K e n t .

Ha n he rst Ackha n e r g , and g , a s well a s Westen i n hanger , concerning which Leland his I tinerary “ writes of O st i n h a u n g r e O f sum now cor ru pt ly called W e st e n a n g e r . I ﬁnd it spelled O st r n h a n r e 12 74 1291 W e st n y g g i n and , y g 1 34 3 W e st i n a n re 1 346 O st r n bangre in , g g in , y ha n r e 1 376 1 38 1 E st n ha n re 1383 g in and , y g g in , W e s t n a n e r 1385 O st n h a n r e 1409 y g g i n , y g i n , O st r n ha n e r 1468 W e s ti n a n e r 14 72 y g g i n , g g i n , O st r n han e r 14 78 W e s t n h a n e r 15 1 1 y g i n , y g g in , W h 4 e st ha n e r 1 5 19 O st e n a n e r 1 5 1 . g in , and y g in Th e changes of the ﬁ rst syllable i llu strat e the continuance of the Saxon W oe st and the Norman Ouest u ntil there i s the reversion to the S axon form in our West .

N R N a . TE TE DE , gain , has a long li st of variants Probably its Saxon name indicated the place ’ T h e in wa rd e n o r where the , or Thane s Warden a n d Guardian , looked after the rights dues of vari o u s other den s where hi s swine had pannage t and his tenants tended them . I t i s no mentioned fﬁ i n Domesday , a s not of su cient i mportance or 1 190 T e n twa rd e n taxability ; but in I ﬁnd it a s , 1252 T he n dwa rd e n n e a n d T e n twa rd e n n in as — , i n 1255 as T e n t wa rd e n e thi s early and probably original form cropping up at interval s for an other B 1259 three hundred years . u t in we get nearer n n 1 300 T e d rd e n . to the extant form , as y I n

T e n t e rd e n n e 1 31 1 T e n t re d e n n e . there i s , and in From thi s point I take the spellings from the Archbi shop ’ s register of the in stitution s of its pari sh priests , and here the earliest record i s ’ n n T e n t d e n n e T e n t e rd e e i n 1 31 1 . Thenceforward ’ T a n t d e n n 1 322 T e n t rd e n n 1 32 7 and in , in , Ten t e rd e n n e 1 333 T e n t wa rd e n e 1 342 in , in , Tenter 1 34 6 T n twa rd n 1 390 T v n t e rd e n denne i n e y in , 1394 1404 T in , Tent den in , enterden (for the 1407 ﬁrst ti me exactly i n its present form) in , T e n di r d e n 14 36 T e n t wa rd e n in , at variou s dates 1464 1 531 T e n t r d e n 1501 1 525 from to , e in and , 151 1 1523 1539 1546 “ Tenterden in , , , and , Tent Va r ia ti on s i n S e llin p g . 5 1

1 54 1 T n e rd warden alias Tenterden in , y t e n in 1546 1 556 T e n t wa r d e n 1560 , Tenterden in , in , 15 7 1 1615 T e n t a rd n 1619 Tenterden in and , e i n T e n d a rd e n 1 626 T e n t a rd e 162 7 6 n 1 36. in , in and H enceforth it i s always Tenterden in the Lam beth Registers . These variation s a re the more fﬁ noticable as all occu rring i n one o ce , where one would have expected a settled and continuou sly adopted form , whereas in such docu ments a s wi lls the testator , o r even the scrivener wh o wrote the will , would have only the cu rrent or the personal idea a s to the right spelling of a name . Elsewhere I have given variations of the places we now know a s Edenb ridge , Cuxton , S hepherds well , Bethersden , Eastry , Throwley , etc . One Fre on de sb r might add the cases of y y (Saxon) , F ra n d e sb e rie F re n e sb e r (Domesday) , y , and F re n d e sb u r R S R E stb a r y , for ou r F IND BU Y ; of b re n e Ba rm a e Ba r m li n Ba r m e lin e g , y g , g , g , and Be rb li n e AR M G ZE le d u re g , for ou r B IN ; p (Saxon) , A e ld r e s A old re A e lt re p (Domesday) , p p , A le d r au A u ld re R pp , and pp , for ou r APPLEDO E ; Poe dle w rth a P e lle so rd e of (Saxon) , (Domesday) , Pa lle s fo r d PAD D L E SW O R T Hs and , for ou r three ; E w He rcle d . e H le hill . e r t pe s e (tem p p , H erte Ha rc l A R lep e , and vp p for ou r H TLIP ; and ’ O ch olt e - Ach olt O k olt e Oak Wood) , , Sud , e h o lt N ok e h old e K K Sc ot t soc , and , for ou r NOC T HOL . The etymological advantage of goin g GW back i s seen in th e case of RIN OULD , which becomes more intelli g ib l e when down to the time of H en ry 3rd it was known a s Ride li n wa ld e o r Ry d e lvn g w e ld e the settlement of th e cl a n a l 1 4 76 of Rvdd e li n g by the wood) . where s not til ' 2 n e we ld Ri n e wold 1 50 . d o I ﬁn d Ri g , and g in E CC E S IA S I CAL LACE - AME S L T P N .

HE R E are not so many a s o n e would expect considering the importance an d power and C K the possession s of th e hurch in ent . AL L Taking some a s they occur to me , there are HAL L o ws , in S heppey , so named from the dedi ’ o f cation its chu rch to All Saints . The Latin Sanctu s and the Teutonic He lige a re the same i n meaning . So we have , too , i n Lower H alstow h e li e — l e the Saxon g stow the holy p ac . I n a list C ’ K 1450 of J ack ade s enti sh followers , in , the pari sh of Omi Seor i s menti oned , which pu zzled me for a moment u ntil I saw i t was a contraction ’ for Omniu m S anctoru m , All Saints . T h e IN S R S n d two M TE , one in T hanet a one i n a re Sheppey , both of Saxon foundation , the L M o n st re atin M onasterium , found later as y and M e n st r O K ON n e . M n st u then a s M N T , earlier o c M n k n A D 961 o t on . . and y , marks a manor given by Queen E a dgiva to the monks o f the com munity of H oly Trinity , which afterwards became

C C a n te rli u r . the greater Chri st hu rch , y There H a re also , for the same reasons , Monks orton H B . and Monks H ill , by H erne ill , in lean S O S O RN a n d BI H P B U E , earlier Bi shopstone , Bi h d e n n e T he s o s . p , denotes an episcopal manor L Bi sh o swic a n d old nucleu s of YDD was p , in D omesday BOUGHTON MALHERBE appears a s Bol

. R STON tone Archiepi scopi P E , near Wingham

(there i s another by Aylesford , and a third near ’ Faversham) i s Priest s Town , and denotes a place where there was a small college of clergy . That n ear Wingham i s recorded in Domesday a s P n e re st e tu . , and in a ﬁne of E dward I I we have Preston next W e n gh a m and v ha m ’

w . Bre ou se . I t belonged to S Augu stine s O A S A A r . Abbey at C ante bury . S N ICH L T W DE i s named from the dedication of the ancient L Ad church . At Wade represents the atin E ccle sia sti ca l Pla ce N m 53 a e s .

d d W a n t su m Va um , at the for , over the , into

T . hanet , near the existing bridge at Sarre ’ ’ S . Margaret s Bay and S . M ARG AR ET S AT C LIFFE retain their Norman dedications . The i l ’ chu rch o r gn a ly belonged to S . Martin s Priory LIL L E C HUR C H at Dover . Hou se , near H igham , marks the site of the old Priory of H igham , The L e n le swe s s e s . . H und red of (A S , pastures) i s the di strict once attached to t h e Augu stinian Abbey (whence the presen t name of ABBEY WOOD) founded in 1 1 78 by the Chief Ju stice and Regent

Richard de Lucy . Of the ﬁve pari shes named from the river C ray two are named from the patron saints of their AR R . A churches S M Y C Y i s , however , called ’ S e n l n A S R A t y g e in Domesday Book . S . P UL C Y i s a misnomer , since the dedicati on i s to S .

Pau linu s , Bi shop of Rochester , and afterward s 129 1 Archbi shop of York . S o i n a deed of I ﬁnd

C re au li n . it a s yp , and in a ﬁne of Edward I I , 1314 P u l n e r 560 a sc a e . 1 , a s y y I n , however , i t ’ appears a s Powle s Crey .

R Z T Rom n e v B EN E T , in Marsh , does not sug gest in its present form either a Celtic o r a Saxon origin ; but a s its old chu rch was dedicated to S . E a n swi t h a , , popular Saxon Saint , also com m m E a n swith e o ra t e d in the S . Ma ry and S . of the original chu rch at Folkestone , i t has been suggested that B renzett has been evolved in pro E wi h a n d cess of time out of a n s t . Bresett Bryn

4 - sete ( 1 1 6) are variants of the place name . There R AR S i s also the pari sh of S . MA Y IN THE M H W R hard by N E CHU CH , also in the Marsh , i s N e uc e rce i n Domesday but as there i s n o

N orman work i n the chu rch , which i s of Early a Engli sh rchitectu re , i t i s su pposed that shortly before Domesday an olde r chu rch had been pulled w n t h e tlo . Then and still i t gives its name to Hundred of Newchu rch in the Lathe of Li m e a

Lim owa rt w r e - a She wa or , hich was n med p y i n he t time of H enry the Third . Al so in the Marsh 54 Place Na m e s i n Ke n t .

R h r h B MC C D e m u e . i s DY HU H , earlier c c ut earlier still i t i s said to have been called simply D imhu s D imh o f v hic h or , would mean i n Saxon th e “ ” dark or h iding place ; so that church may be

. R a later additi o n t o an old name EA STCHU CH , i s in Sheppey , wa s , and , the easternmost church in th e i sland .

L AC - AM S R OM R S ON S P E N E F PE .

E have seen how common in K ent a re place - names derived from patronymics O f r the name of a family o clan , such a s K G ennington , the settlement of the ennings , but o there are othe rs , mainly m ore m dern , which of who include the name an individual , u sually would be the lord of the manor . Thu s some have WI NG i magined that S FIELD , near D over , i s ’ Sweyn s Field , a s i f the Saxons would have named a place after their piratical enemy . The Swon e s fe ld e Sw n e fe ld e older forms , and y , would t more naturally point o swine , the keeping of which was the chief pastoral pu rsuit of the

Sax on s in the den s and clearings of the forest . RO G u i n b oro we QUEENBO U H , or Q , however (earlier B n n e e known a s y ) , was named by Edward the Third (who built a strong fort there) in h onou r 1 368 OS R V of Queen Philippa in . R HE ILLE i s very recent , being named after Jeremiah Rosher , lord of the manor in the nineteenth century . TON A 1265 S UT V LENCE wa s Town S u tton u ntil . when it became part of the possessi ons of Wil

- liam de Valence , half brother of H enry the

Third .

BOUGHTON ALUPH - Boeton An u lphi in a char ter of Edward the S econd—was the seat i n the time of H enry the S eventh of the family of O G ON Aloff , t o which Wye belonged . B U HT MONCHEL S E A (Boeton C h a n e sy i n the time of E dward the Second) owes its additional name to Pla m r m r n 55 ce Na e s f o P e s o s . a N orman noble ; and B OUGHTON MALHE RBE

- (another Bu sh ton , or town in the woods) was given a s a manor to the Norman family of Mal a herbe . BETHE R S DEN can be traced b ck to Be a t rich e s d e n n e N orman times as , probably a s PAT R Ix held by a n heiress of that name . S o BOU RN E appears earliest as Bou rne until a Patrick A R held th e man or . C PEL LE FE NE , near Dover , was originally M a u r e gg e ; but In 1 1 75 the Cape] ’ family owned Capel s Cou rt in I vychurch , and K had estates in several parts o f ent . I n the

ﬁfteenth centu ry i t was called sometimes S . m Mary Marige and sometimes Capelle le fa e , “ and in a deed of 15 1 1 it appears a s C ape lfe rn e or S . M ary Merge . R S W SHEPHE D ELL , near Dover , has nothing to do with a shepherd or a well ; but i s an early Sib e r t swa lt corruption of , as it appears in

i . e . Domesday , , the wood of Sibert . The phonetic changes are found in later charters and wills , S b e r s swe ld 14 74 S bb e rd i swo ld 1484 y y i n , y , Ship r i swold 1 501 S he sw old 1 506 Sh e e rt e r s , p , and p i n 1 522 r i r h t . Su a b e t S e b e wold , or , was a great St u r e t h S axon thane , and granted land in g ’ B m D m n v (Sturry) and o d e sh a to St . o e a s new 814 Min ster in Thanet , while in a charter of we

l b i - read of S e e e rt n c g lond . Great Chart was ’ le r s S ibb e t s t o n originally S e b e t Chart . r (or

S e le b e r t s t o n - ) was a sub manor i n Chilham , and there i s still the H undred of S e b rit t e n d e n o r

Se le b e rt s d e n i n what was the old Lathe of Wye .

’ NG A M M o n n s MO EH is probably y Home , for the Moni a s fami ly have been there or near there since the ti me of H enry the Thi rd , and are there G O D N E S T O N . O still , commonly called Gu ston , wa s G d wi n s t o n no doubt o , a s in the te rritory of the a n d great Earl Godwin , we trace its present G o u n c e s t o n name through the earlier forms , '

G o s t o n G u s se t on . od ce , , to Gu ston Another Go n e s t n e a G u d e w n o , ne r Faversham , appea rs a s y 29 T h e ston in 1469 and G oodwin st on in 1 5 . 56 Pl a ce Na m e s i n Ke n t .

I CK AM BiRE UX n o Breux , of W H , i s a ther N orman addition to a Saxon name . E BB S F L E E T , the so important landing place ,

first of H engi st and then of S . Augu stine , has , of course , been explained by ignorant guessers as the place where the sea ebbs Bu t its earliest ’ fl io t i . e . name to be traced i s p ine s , , the creek Y where some Jute of that name settled . p i s E o E o a o n probably the p in pp , which i s a c mmo B Saxon name , also fou nd a s obba , so that B ’ E fl t U R obbe s fleet easily becomes bb s e e . PPE H ARD R E S may take u s to the N orman family which came from Ardres in Picardy , although it i s possible to find a common C eltic origin for the name both of the French and the Engli sh C village in the eltic Ardd , that i s , ploughland . I t

i . e i s H eg H ardres , , H igh H ardres , in early docu ments . H ORTON K I RBY was simply H orton until the

. K reign of E dward I I I , when a Lancashire irby married the heiress of the manor and rebuilt the 1 77 n castle . E ven i n 3 I find it still called Hor tu e f ’ . A M only OFFH i s O fa s home , and several places , T A M including probably O H , bear hi s name . H ere thi s C hri stian K ing of M ercia i s said to have K conquered Edmund of ent . So Old Romney O ffe t n E ffe t Aff n f n e o . was earlier o , o , or t O fa K f ruled Su ssex and ent , and so we have O fham O ffin t o n near Lewes , g near Worth ing Offham U near Arundel , and fton near Tun stall . But the n ame of O ffe t o n for Old Romney disappears after ’ 1281 O oT s RA r . Footb u F C Y , a nd y H i ll near there , i s named from Godwin Fot the Saxon . CHELS FIELD i s said to record the name of a G C e olmu n d Saxon eol , a shortened form of , o r C e olb a ld C e olwu lf O f , or , all which were common A ST L a mfie rhu r st names . S COTNEY C LE , , belonged t e rn i in the 12 t h centu ry to the Baron s de Sco , T who came from Pontigny , in N . France . hey had also Scotney Cou rt , at Lydd . One may add to these samples of places named f ro m person s , two or three that very probably

58 Pla ce Na m e i n s Ke n t .

the population , it i s plainly inevitable that the original form and real mea ning of a place - name shou ld often be diﬂi cu lt to trace But always in an enquiring mind there was the insistent WH Y ! which i s a characteri stic and a glory of man as a reasoning animal , and hence often a meaning was given to a word that i s simply a O f sort pun , an endeavou r to explain a word by what i t looks like in cu rrent speech or dialect when t here wa s not the kn owledge of earlier ti mes and older to n gues which elevates mere guessing into the science of etymology . Some K entish examples of thi s source of error

. A S may be u seful Thu s , when we trace M ID TONE back into the earliest record s we ﬁnd that i t has nothing to d o with either M aid or Stone , but comes through many variation s from the C e lt o

M e dwe s t o n . Saxon g , or town on the M edway Yet though Lambard knew and quoted thi s in 1 5 70 he suggested also a meaning of mighty stone , a name given for the quarry of hard stone ! ” S there So , too , H asted th inks LOO E i s so called becau se the stream loses itself under ground (like the Mole in Su rrey) for some eight hundred yard s at B r i s hi n g ! H e might a s well have ascribed the name to Loose a n d Detling having been long only Chapelries of Maidstone , bu t at last having been cut loose and made i nto separate pari shes i n E lizabethan times ! T R N K TEN E DE i s named , says an old enti sh “ writer , a s some vu lgar fancies conj ecture , from ” FE V E R SHAM the tenderness of its soil ; , says O ld K Philli o tt another enti sh writer , p , u sefu l a s u n an hi storian , u seless to etymologi sts , i s an O f healthy town , and carries the tokens it in its ! HARB LE I . d . e s t name . , the home of fevers “ W s - DO N , says Black , i s p called in allu sion to its ” grassy down s and hills , a s i f grassines s were n o t a characteristic of any and every down and K A S hill in ent . G D HILL , we are solemnly told , i s ” d d d who named from ga s , club s u se by footpa s Abs u r di ti in D e ri v a t ion 59 e s .

were not unknown there (or anywhere else) on

Watling S treet . We should smile less if the hi name was Pa d s ll . o f a n d And one the most ancient , indeed pre i n K Pe n o t hi storic , names ent i s yp , a hill oppo “ site Chilham . H ere once , one old ru stic would s a y , they dug up a pot full of pennies . “ Nay , another wou ld respond , it was where they u sed to sell ale for a penny a pot in the good old days ! ” To such vile meanings may descend the venerable Celtic Pen y wlh—the

H ead of the Mou nd . One of the earliest Roman geographers heard

of Thanet under its earliest name of Tanet , and o becau se h e knew a Greek w rd Thanatos , which

means death , he so i nterpreted Thanet . On thi s ab surdity he based a baseles s legend which L a mb a rd e in 1 5 70 thu s describes ! There be no

snakes in Tanet (saith he) , and the earth that i s

brought from thence will kill them . (Why death to snakes any more than to sheep or shepherds ! Why not go fu rther and make Thanatos a lifeless place like the Dead Sea ! ) “ But whether he wrote thi s of any sure u nderstanding

that he had of the quality of the soil , or only by

conj ectu re a t the woord Thanatos , which i n k i G r e e e s n iﬁe th . g dea th , I wote n ot Thi s i s

a s strong an example of conj ectu ral derivation , with nothing but a sup e rﬁcial resemblance to L mb a rd e p . a su p ort it , a s we could ﬁnd Bu t him i n self , great a s he i s many ways , gives deriva

e . . tion s almost a s baseless , g , Blackheath , “ ! ” called of the colou r of the soil Wrotham , given for the great ple n t ie of wo o rt s or good ” “

h e r r we . a b s that g o there Farley , interpreted ” ! Bo a re s the place of the , or Bulles (which and “ Sittingbou rne , one i nterprets i t ” S e e t hi n b ou r n e Rivu s Fe rv e n s au t Hu lli e n s g , — th e boili ng or bubbling river i n that ﬂat cou ntry Thi s i s too much even for him and a n d hi s times , so he adds , but how likely let ” others see . “ UR ON S AN ONE S O T D ST .

’ in K e ll s K e n t D i r e ct or T S given y y , our on s ! and S tones are Addington , Aldington , B Be dm on t o n Allington , arfreston , , Bil sington , Birchington , Blackmanstone , Bonning Bro m ton (two) , Bossington , Boughton (four) , p C ha rlt on ton , (two) , Cheriton , Ch iddingstone , C hilmi n to n C o g , Chilton , Cliftonville , ossingt n , C oze n t on C C u lve r s t on e D a v i n , rofton , , Cuxton , g D u m t on ton , Denton (two) , Doddington , p , Dun ton Green , E ddington , E llington , Egerton , E e rt on F gg , Elmstone , E lvington , olkestone , F u n ton Foston Green , , Garrington , Goldstone ,

Goodnestone (two) , Gu ston , H ackington , H amp Ho lm s t on C ton (two) , H amptons , e amp , H orton K K (two) , H orton irby , H unton , enardington , K K K K ennington , eston , ingston o r ingstone , K i i n to n K pp g , nowlton , Langton Green , Linton ,

Littlestone , Liverton Street , Loddington , Lu lling stone , Lowton , Luton , M aidstone , Manston , Mil ton (two) , M ilton Regis , M ilton Street , Monks

H orton , Monkton , Murston , Nackington , N ew i n t on g (three) , N onington , Horton , Orlestone , Pe v i n t on Orping ton , g , Plumpton , Poulton , Pres Sa lm e st on e Scu ddi n t on ton ( two) , Ripton , , g ,

Seaton , Sevington , S ibton , Stone (fou r) , S tone bridge (two) , Stonebridge Green , Stone Cro ss

(three) , Stone Crouch , Stone H ill , Stone Hou se ,

Stone Stairs , Stone S treet , Stonehill (two) , Su t ton (three) , Swanton S treet , Tankerton , Teston , T wit t o n Thanington , Tilmanstone , Tottington , , U U W a n st on e W ie rto n fton , pton , , Weddington , W ild e rt n W ilmi n Street , o , Wi llington Street , g —14 7 ton , Wootton (three) i n all . One may add , for purposes of investigation , Stone , an old r bo ough in Maidstone .

First , one mu st endeavou r to separate the ton s and the stones—the Saxon settlements or town s a n d the places named from stones set fo r boun “ ” “ ” Th e To n s n d S a ton e s . 61 darics or for m arks where manor courts or motes

. were held And thi s i s not always easy , since m e d imv a l spelling was vague , and in some cases an original “ stone ” has become “ ton ” in later i c e r v v e s a . years , o r Generally , a reference to the earli est forms (where such can be fou nd i n

Saxon or Norman , or even Early English docu ments) will settle th e point . Thu s Folkestone i s by some identiﬁed with the site o f the “ stone ” of inscription on the Gallic sea , mentioned by N e n n i u s F l , the Saxon geographer . I t is o ce s S a on C hr on i le F l h s stane i n the x c , and a c e t a n in i v Domesday , and therefore no explanati on n vol K ing ton need be entertained . eston , again , i s C s ta n i n a y g , hence in Saxon charters between 862 966 and , a s being or having a boundary

a . G m rk stone I t i s hestan in Domesday . Bu t Chiddi ngstone sh ould probably lose its ﬁn a l e and derive from a Saxon patronymic , althou g h a modern and grotesque suggestion i s that the dolmen there was u sed a s a Chiding or judgment stone by Celtic or Saxon priests . Maidstone , a M a id st on ag i n , shou ld probably be , being M e dwe st o n S a on Ch r on i cle g i n the x , and almost certainly meaning the town on the Medway ; a l though it i s fair to say that an ending in stane i s early found . Tilmanstone was earlier Tel u E lme rst on mesto , an d E lmstone was , and the G dwi n ston earlier spellings of Goodnestone are oo , G n n n ud e w st o G ood e st o n . y , and

Stones are much fewer than tons , although no doubt the nu mber of such marks (origin of ou r milestones) was increased b y the Roman s . e Thu s the place S ton , two miles west of Faver sham and on thei r great main road Watlin g h Street , i s t ought to mark the site of thei r D ur ole v o military station of , and thu s to be named from th e di stance mark . We mu st also note that stone b rid g es were practically u nknown a to th e S xon s , except those the Roman s had left , and Stone C ross would not a ppea r as a place 62 Pla ce Na m e s i n K en t .

name until after thei r conversion , while a sto ne hou se , except as the castle of a N orman noble , would be of quite late date .

As to the Tons , some are named from geo graphical position , such a s N orton (Northtown) ,

F - near aversham , and th e Su ttons (South town) , on the edge of the Weald or south of Dartford ; and , whatever may be the case with others , the M ilton near Sittingbou rne i s called M idd e lt u n a S a xon C h r on i cle in the and in Domesday , since i t was reckoned the central town of K ent when Watling Street wa s far the greatest and most 4 2 frequented rou te to be considered , being miles 31 from London and from Dover . Our vari ou s ” Bou ht on s g are settlements in the wood , as W t n s are also the o ot o s . Monkton and the Preston were settlements of monks and of colleges of priests .

The great maj ority , however , denote the i e . settlement of some S axon ( . J utish) family , Se a ﬁn s S e v in a s such as g or g at S evington , the [E lin s N o n i n a s N on i n g at Allington , the g at g

G K . ton , the ennings at ennington , and so forth We ﬁnd thi s Saxon patronymic “ ing i n 37 of K t on ou r entish place names ending i n , and when we add the ings like Barming ( Bamling , Ba rm e li n e Be rb li n e g , and g in Ea rly Engli sh Be lt ri n Bilti n B documents) , g , g , irling , B—obbing ( Bobing - s c ata i n a Saxon charter of 798 com

Bobb i n swort h Bra mlin . pare g in E ssex) , g Ba zi n K g (at the junction of ent , Su ssex and

Su rrey) , remind s u s of Basing and Basingstoke in H ants and Ba si n gha m (in Domesday Bo ok) in C o Su ssex . haring , Chevening (alth ug h this C may be earlier and eltic) , C ooling , Detling , D r e li n r e perhaps go , Eastling , Etching , Garlinge , G ddi n e H e g , H ackling e , alling , H awki nge , K H ucking , em sing , Lidsing (not Lyminge , how N ulli n e O tt in e ever) , Malling , g , Ospringe , g , Pe dli n e g , Postlin g , Ratling , Rawling , Reading

Street (three) , Rowling , Ruckinge , Sandling “ ” O u r Ha m 63 s .

(two) , Selling , Sellinge , S helving , Spratling V V e a v e ri n Street , Stelling , S towting , g Street , “f W it c hli n elling , g , and Yalding ; and when to “ ” these w e add the inghams I have given i n a ’ previou s article , we might alter Tennyson s “ Saxon , and Norman , and Dane are we , into Mo stly Saxon a r e we as to our place - names i n K e rle t o n e ent . Ou r two Charlton s a re of old C o

the town of the ceorls or hu sbandmen . Some

e . . tons come from personal names also , g , C u ckﬁe ld Cuxton (compare in Su ssex) , Cuca and its diminutive C u co la are found as Anglo - Saxon C oc kst a n e names , and as the place appears in a C oke ls to n e 14 72 Domesd y , and a s i n , nearly 400 Coc ks t o n years later , with other form s , C kl s n e ke l n k st n o e t a C u e st a e C oo o e . , , , etc (all pointi ng to stone , and not ton , being properly the ﬁnal syllable) .

There is , however , obviou sly much to be done — before we can know o r even in some cases — “ ” guess as to the origin o f some tons or ” stones .

OUR A H M S .

N considering the three score and ten , or

- K more , place names in ent which end in ha m difli cu lt , we a re met with th e in itial — y that there are two Saxon word s Ham home , and — H amm land d rained by dykes , an East Friesian word , th ough the far more common Ham i s the ffi Teutonic heim , familiar a s a su x in Germany , which i n Picardy becomes hen , and in Friesland h m ffi i n u m . Either ton or a a s a su x after g denotes where a Saxon family o r clan had settled Paefin s and made its toun or heim . Thu s the g made a Pe v i n g t on in K ent and a Pa v i n gh a m in Ald i n s Bed ford shi re , and the g an Aldington in K ent and Worcester , and an Aldingham in 64 Pla ce N a m e s in Ke n t .

L L L ossin ha m K n anca shire , the easings a g in e t and a Lissington in Lancashire . Such instances do not u phold what some have held—that there woi d s were two spelled the same , the one meaning home and the other an enclosu re .

As to the H amm or H aam for marshy ground , it would seem to be fou nd in K ent as accounting for H am Ponds , near Sandwich , marshy ground d ear to botani sts , and Mersh a m (A . S . Mersc M e r x t on marsh) in Romney , and M erston ( i n Ha m near Rochester . H am Green and

Street a re also Romney Marsh names . Water ham and W e tha m would suggest the same origin , the latter being in th e Rainham marshes and the former , I think , n ot far from the Faver sham marshes . Dagenham also (as elsewhere) i s ’

. B Decca s marsh land u t the o rd inary hams , a s we may call them , have again to be sub divided into those which indicate th e settlement of a Saxon family ; those wh ich enshrine a per sonal name ; and those which relate to the e n v i r on m e n t or situation of the home . I n the ﬁrst divi sion would came the c ases in which ham followed the patronymic i ng , denoting “ ” G e li n h a m the son s of . Thu s Gillingham ( g in

D omesday) wa s the settlement of the Gilling s , who are also found at Gillin g in Yorkshire , Gil m li n ha . g in N orfolk , and Gillingham in Dorset M ot t i n s The home of the g was at M ottingham , n L s e n h m r a d that of the Leasing s at o s a . O u Chi lham would not at ﬁrst si g ht seem to come in h ere ; but in a charter of K ing W ihd ra e d in “ ” 699 C illin 814 it is called g , and i n another of “ ” the port which i s called C illin cg (the S tou r l was then navi g ab e u p to h ere for small craft) , C Shilli n ﬁe ld and a manor in hilham i s g , so that a connection with th e Gillings may be suggested . Farningham might seem pr im a fa ci e to add another to thi s u nexpectedly small class ; bu t f Fa rn in s there i s no kn own tribe o g , and the old name was Fre myn gha m (again with n o tribe

66 Pla ce N a me i s n Ke n t .

M cClu r e thi s , a great recent authority in Sax on , “ says ! The ﬁrst element is a personal name in the genitive . As , however , there seems to be no similar Saxon designation , he suggests a

i e . possible survival of the Latin Faber, . , Smith , K i n a thoroughly Latinized part of ent . But thi s pre - supposes that the place was named from a Single u nnamed operative . Be t sha m i s K obscu re , but when we ﬁnd , also in ent , Bets o hu rst and Betteshanger , a pers nal origin seems

. M c C lu r e likely A s says , ou r Luddesdown seem s to involve a persona l name ; he might say the same of Lu dden ham . The third divi sion introduces u s to settlements or homes named from thei r environment or situation . Thu s H igham (He a hha a m in a 770 He hh a m charter of , and i n one of i s H h AS . ea plainly from the , whence ou r H igh ; S O Hu h a m and i s H ougham (earlier g ) , near r Dover . Burham i s the fortiﬁed place o Bu rh , 1 498 Borowh a m 1 5 1 1 B orou found i n as , in as g 4 15 9 . ham , and in in its present form Homes between Rochester and Aylesford had to be strong in the days and the place of constant m a ra u di n g s and wars . Mersham i s the Mersc home in Romney Marsh . Westerham , of old O st r e h a m (compare Westenhanger alias Ostring “ ” hanger) i s the little white home i n the west of —I h m 785 K ent . Ickham occ a in a charter of , An r e d d a— Y e c kha m in d e otherwi se , i s probably the settlement on the yoke of arable land , from C e rt e h a m the Saxon measure Ye ok . Chartham ( in Domesday) i s the home in the forest , chart and hart being varying forms O f the Teu tonic word for forest , the former more common in England , Pe rha m st e d the latter in Germany . , says M cC lu re , is the homestead where pears were In cu ltiva ted . Thornham (thou g h Tu rnham Domesday) i s said to derive from H awthorn s , h a e a t ho rn Thynn e being Saxon—for th orn , and g later for hedge - thorn whence also probably our “ ” Ou r H m 6 a s . 7

K He th e entish Eythorne (anciently gy Thorne) , and E yh o r n e (Ha yt h o rn e i n Ple a of H enry

- a . a s pl ce names Weald , Wold , Wald , and Wood

Wudu and Weald) , all mean wood s , so that we can u nderstand ou r Wouldham and

Wa ltham . Lenham mu st b e the settlement of the Len , unless it could be proved that the river ever had another name , Celtic as it probably i s . The following i s a full li st of the “ H ams ” in ’ K K e ll s D i r e c t o r o K e n t ent according to y y f , and I have extracted them in the hope that it may save some trouble to a futu re writer on our

- place names . I am not of the cl a ss of those who “ s a ! y Posteri ty has done nothing for me , so ” why should I d o anything for posterity !

Adisham , Alkham , Barham , Bagham , Becken ha m a Be t s ha m Ba h a m , Burham , Benth m , , y ,

Cudham , Cobham , Clapham , Chatham , Chart C ro wdle h a m ham , Chilham , , Crockham , Dagen h a m , Eltham , E lham , Fawkham , Faversham , a Fi n le s h a m F ro ha m G o dm e r F rningham , g , g , sham , Gillingham , H am ponds , H am Green He v e rh a m (two) , H am H ill , H am Street , , H am , a H arrietsham , Hougham , H igh m , Horsham ,

I ckham , Ightham , Lenham , Luddenham , Lossen M ot t i n ham , Meopham , Mersham , M ongeham , g ham , Newnham , Offham , Otham , Otterham , Ra h a m a Ro d m e r Petham , Peckham , y , Rainh m , sham , Sydenham , S horeham , Teynham , Thorn W a t e rh a m W e t ha m ham , Waltham , , , Wick a ham , Wickh mbreux , Westerham , Wrotham , Ya ld ha m Wingham , Wittersham , Wou ldham , . K ilb u rn e 49 wrote that there were , but here I 7 1 Pe rha m st e d enu merate , and one might add , Ise lh a m M i st e lh a m , Freckenham , , and the H un K i n h a m fo rd D o wn ha m fo r d d red s of g and , mak

77 . ing , all of u ndoubtedly Saxon origin ” “ R S R S AN I E S U . O SOLE , BU Y , D H TH

H E word S ole oc curs frequ ently as a K entish

- place name , and is purely Saxon . Dr . Bos ’ worth s An g lo - S a x on D i c ti o n a r y gives Sol “ — — ” as meaning soil dirt a wallowing place ; while Lewi s deﬁnes i t as “ a dirty pond of stand ”

. S lia n ing water The Saxon verb i s y , to soil K or cover with mu d . So an old entish will has “ the words besi de the w a t e ri n g e sole in trend Y kh m ” c a e s t re e t e . th e end) of Now , as the chief Indu stries of the Saxon s in K ent were pigs and pots—as now they are bricks and beer —i t i s obviou s that pigs , especially in clay soil , wou ld create many wallowing places . So we ﬁnd

Sole S treet , near Broad stairs (n ow corrupted into So rv e ll and so made u nmeaning and u n intelligible) , anoth er by Cobham , another by

o . Crundale , and an ther by Selling We ﬁnd also ’ R i n B t t s ole Bra d sole . a d u d u (S g s near Dover) , Black so le M a id e n s ole in Eastry , at Wrotham , , L on so le T h e w sole a n d g H eath by Allington , , Ha n m a n s ole E a st sole g i n Romney Marsh , , N ew E s o le sole near Coldred , n ear N onington , Pod

- sole near H eadcorn , a Mote sole Street in Sand M u d sh ole b v Ba rn sole wich , H awkin g e , Lane , Ba rn sole a Gilling ham , Capel S ole , in St ple , W e s t ﬁe ld Ri s ol Sole i n Boxley , g Road i n Otter Pa ddi sole den , and last , bu t not least , , or Pad sole , at M aidstone .

O U R BU RY S .

Th ere are two Anglo - S axon words which have —Be o rh to be di stingui shed , like the German B r i Berg , meaning a h ill ; and Bu ruh or y g , fﬁ which comes later into the su x Bu ry , which again later comes to be u sed for a division of “ ” Ou r B u r s 69 y .

H undred or simply for a town . I n the south of England we have most of the distinctively Saxon or Jutish Bury , while i n the north we have the

Anglian and N orse form s of Bu rgh , Brough ,

Borough , more common . And one mu st add , a s a variant of the same word , Barrow , which in modern u se we conﬁne to a tumulu s for the sepu lture of a great warrior or leader . As these British camps were generally on high ground for o Ob servation and for defence , the ideas repr sented by Be orh and by Bu ru h wou ld inevitably B intertwine . The ritish and Saxon camps were no doubt numerou s when we consider the cen t u ri e s of marau ders and invaders which kept o u r earliest forefathers in a constant fear . They were u sually round or oblong , whereas the fewer and later camps or fo rts of the Romans were rectangular . Surrounded by a deep ditch , the earth of which was th rown u p to make a wall , into them i n troublou s times were collected families and ﬂocks , so that the tran sition of meaning from the By rig or fort to the Borough C n t e rb rv . a u or town wa s easy . for example ,

C a n t wa ra - b ri began as y g , the fort o f the folk o f K im ent , long before it developed into its most portant borough or city . So , in another county , i G lae st i n gab e r g became Glastonbury . K I n ent we ﬁnd Farnborough , Frind sbu ry ,

Wateringbu ry , H ildenborough , Pembu ry , Cob h m u r a b y , Southborough , Oldbu ry , B igbu ry , G l s se n b u r Ha wke n b u r ie s a y , two , Holborough , Howb u r Sca db u r G oodb u r y , y , y , Eastbu ry , Fall ha d bu rie , Stockbu ry (where the d itch and bank been su pplemented by a pali sade of stocks , the ’ pred ecesso r of ou r fathers ch e v e u a x de frise in Bi n b u r warlike defence) , y , Westborough (in

Maid stone above and defending the M edway) , W d n e sb u r oo y , Willesborough , Queenborough , M a r shb o rou h Richborough , Bidborough , g , l r D ow n b u r St a t e n b o r ou h T a t t e b u , y , g , y — H ocken D u n b u r T a tli n b u r a bu ry , y and g y long list 70 Pl N m a ce a e s i n K e n t .

which predicates long years , or rather centuries , of ﬁghting in defence , a s much a s my previou s list of forestal names proves how much of K ent was covered with woods .

Some of these , like Oldbury and Bigbury , are undoubtedly O ld Briti sh camps or forts ; others were adapted , or newly made , by Romans a n d , later , by Saxons , while again later still a Norman castle migh t be reared on the old a s strategetic spot , in the case of Thornham

Castle , near me . Flinders Petri e , however , says that “ many sites which by thei r name of bu ry ” suggest a camp or fort are now bare of remain s . D own b u r S o he writes after examining y Farm , o a n d D u n b u r n ear Pembu ry , H ckenbu ry , y , near T a t t le b u r T a t li n S taplehu rst , y near H eadcorn , g Hill C bury near Capel , Perry near ooling , Pem r i n d sb u r bu ry , F y and Wateringbury . K Our Barrows i n ent are mainly small , graves rather than mou nd s , but we have the place Hill names Barrow Green , Barrow near Ashford , and Barrow H ill by Sellindge .

UR I E S O H TH .

H ithe i s the Saxon for haven , or place where ships could lie , and H yth e ( H eda in Domesday o f 1229 Book , and H ee in a deed ) was near the edge O f the sea when hi story begi ns ; but We st e Hythe , which i s now thre miles from the sea , was the old port u sed by the Roman s and by

d Lim e n e . them calle , the harbour H ence ou r — Le m a n i s modern Lympne Portu s , in wh ich the L im e n e 1 291 p i s a modern additi on . I ﬁnd i t in , L m e n 1396 L 14 75 L m n e y in , imne in , and y i n 480 1 .

Then , right in the Weald , i s the hamlet o f

Sm a llh t h e . y , three miles south of Tenterden 1 509 Down to , however , there was a channel from the sea u p to here . “ Our C oldha r bour s . 71

N e wh e th , or N ew Hythe , i s a hamlet of East — Malling a n d it was a sort of port (or perhaps a wharf) on the M edway for shipping goods from K S outh ent and the Weald .

On the Thames , below Dartford , i s Green hithe , which has kept both its name and the j ustification thereof from the times of the Saxons to the present day . There the Danish K ing had an entrenched camp a s a winter station for his soldiers . H ere Wi lliam the Conqueror was stopped by the men of K ent until he confirmed rv il e s them in thei r old Saxon laws and p e g . From here S i r J ohn Franklin and Capta in Cro zier sailed in the E rebu s and Terror (in the year and month of my birth) on their last and fatal voyage to the Pole . H ere still the hithe discharges its lime and chalk , and has an environment and backgrou nd of green fields and woods . “ ZE r r e h t h e y , the old haven , known to u s a s 1 1 78 E rith , the landing place for what was from , when it wa s fou nded , the important Abbey of L e sn e s , which still gives its name to the Hun d red .

O UR C OLD H ARBOU R S .

E RHAPS the most common place - name in England i s that of C old Harbou r ; though

Sutton and N orton may ru n it close . Over one hundred and seventy have been enu merated in England , a nu mber which wou ld be b rough t u p to over two hundred if we added the Calde cots and the C a lco t t s (we have a C a lcot t i n Stu rry pari sh) wh ich are names with the same meaning . And yet i n a sense Cold H arbour i s

- not a place name , for the only pari sh of that 842 name wa s not formed and named u nti l 1 . I t i s near Dorking . H owever , as a name of a manor or a farm it i s common . Thu s in London (where we should hardly expect Cold Harbou rs 72 l N m e s i K P a ce a n e n t . of the kind found in country places) there was C old he rb e r h e the Manor of g , of which we kn ow 2 much s ince 13 7 . Situated on the bank of the

Thames near London B ridge , its man sion wa s tenanted by royal dukes , a bishop , a Lord h e Mayor , and afterward s became the H all of t ’ W a t e r m e n s a t Company , and last the C ity of

London Brewery . The other i s i n Camberwell , whch was one great manor at the time of the C onquest , bu t later divided into minor l ordships , to two of which the name O f C old Harbou r was C He r e r h given , o f which one was old b g , Ha ch e s h a m ( H atcham n ow) , while the other a survives in the well known Cold H arbou r L ne , 19 h in Camberwell . I n early t century maps C old Blow Farm was the representative of the old K manor ( ent has a C old Blow i n Bexley) . A 1 5 t h C l b e e curiou s century corrupti on was o da b y , though there was never a n abbey there . The farm succu mbed to suburban expansion in the 19 C th centu ry ; but H arbou r Road , old H arbou r t e ll Lane , and Cold H arbour Place , u s of its site . The Cold H arbou rs in K ent are thirty i n nu mber , while ten are found in each of the con t igu ou s cou nties of Surrey and Su ssex . They are fou nd at Addington , Aldington , Aylesford , C hi sle Barham Downs , Bi shopsb ou rne , Bridge , hu rst , Deptford , Ditton , Eltham , H igham , H il d e n b o rou h L m n e g , E ltham , Lamberhu rst , y , N ort hﬂe e t Maidstone , Newington , , Pen shu rst ,

- in - Sellinge , S ittingbou rne , Stoke H o o , Sutton a t - H one , Tenterden , Trench , Tunbridge , Wood n e sb o ro u h . g , Woolwich , Wrotham , and Wye The majority of these are u pon or near Roman sites , or on the Roman main roads , a fact to be b orn e in mind when we come to con sider thei r origin . For I saac Taylor says of early travelling “ Where no religiou s hou se exi sted to receive the traveller he wou ld u sually b e compelled to content himself with the shelter of bare walls .

74 Pla ce N a m e s i K n e n t .

H e calls them the leanest shadows of our cheerfu l inns , and though bare walls and a bi t of a roof would be better than nothing to a traveller over Barham Downs , yet , compared with the “ warmest welcome i n an inn ” experienced elsewhere , he would n o doubt call i t a cold harbou r . Later , and in M iddle Engli sh , He r ibe o r the g , shelter for a host , became a s

H erberg a synonym for any inn , and later still Harbourers or harbingers were the caterers or victuallers , who at last gained the right to sell ale in competition with the more normal

- hostelries . Then the trade name became a su r le name , and John H erberger appears , and perhaps the H arpers of to - day indicate an inn keeper rather than a mu sician as their ancestor .

Of course , the perverse ingenu ity of some has invented strange derivation s for the name . Stow suggests that they were coal - stations ! Another writer (who apparently only knew of one C old H arbour near London Bridge) that it was where the K OIn or C ologne merchants had their head quart—ers ! Another derives from C ol (u b ri s) a rbor the tree or staff round which a serpent t h e twines . Thi s i s the emblem of Mercu ry messenger of Jupiter , and may have been there ! fore the sign of the Roman posting- station s

AN D E RIDA .

K e m a in lv S I have already said , ent was onc a either dense prim eval forest , or marsh

land , which fringed nearly all its coastal bord er from Su ssex to London . The greater part of the forest was that which extended along the northern b order of th e South Saxons wi th a breadth of thirty and a length of one hundred and twenty miles . But the royal forest of Blean (in which I wa s b orn) i s c ontinuou s with An e r id a d , although i t bears a separate name in An d r e i da . 75

K Of 791 a charter of ing fa in . This would make the forestal land extend from Whitstable through K East and M id ent , N orthern Su ssex , S outhern

S u rrey , and Eastern H amp shire , right down to P ﬁ l e t e r s e d . Di stinct , bu t contiguou s , was the C e s t mwa r owa lth C e st e r s e t t a or Wald , of which part remain s in the woods between Rochester and M aidstone , although some would place i t near Lyminge . Thi s prim aeval forest i s s t ill marked by a great su rvival of woodland and parks , as a colou red K map of ent would show , and also by the abundance of the characteri stic terminati ons of hu rst , den , ley , holt , and feld . I t names th e a — We ld (Teutonic Wad wood) , although therein more cleared than anywhere else , and the less known Roman road , Well S treet , which ran through i t from Maidstone , should be probably \ the Va ld road .

Generally called An d e rid a from the name the Romans gave to their fort and garri soned place near Peven sey , this i s only a change from the

An r d - An re C earlier d e d . Coe d d was i ts eltic o o name , fr m C ed , a wood , which word appears a lso i n K e d Coed (the hollow dolman in the K C wood) , which was corrupted i nto its oty Hou se ; while the Cotswolds give the Saxon addition to the Celtic name , so that the meaning

- B i s Wood wood , ju st a s urbeck or the Raven s bou rn e mean Water - water by the Saxon sur naming of a Celtic name . I n early Saxon charters , which are written i n Lati n , it appears

- An d r e d - An d re d a s Saltu s , Silva , Saltu s com muni s , or S ilva regalis , while i n Saxon it i s

An d r An d r e d sle a e An d re d swe a ld . e d , g , o r

As to the meaning of the name , Edward s i m rob th inks i t a proper name , which i s very p La mb a rd e able considering its extent . says An d re d in the Celtic mean s great , which i s simplest and best , provided that such a word i s 76 la c N m P e a e s i n K e n t .

D d . r . prove to exi st Guest refers it , less pro bably , to a Celtic negative an and dred , a dwell “ ” w h f r ing , and Le in to an for t e deni , o oak “ ” forest , and by a dhu for black . I t may b e here interesting to give a list of the names borne nearly a thou sand years a go by K some town s a nd villages i n ent , especially ’ those in the Weald . I n a map in Furle y s W e a ld , he gives the manors and places men t io n e d A D in the Domesday Book ( . . and by this it appears that settlements and cultiva tion were nearly all on the north and east edges An d r T h e of the great forest of e id a . only ex c e t i on s T iv e d a le T u d e Be n i n d e n e p are (now ly) , T e in d e n e T iffe n d e n (Benenden) , p ( ) , and B li e n e e c d e . , which are deeper in the forest Taking the line o f the K entish Weald from rimmva l west to east , we ﬁnd fringing the p D i st r e ha m Br ie st e d e wood , (Westerham) , So n d re ss e Bro t e n ha m ( Brasted) , (Su ndridge) , N a r ou rd e Pe ch e ha m (Wrotham) , g (Mereworth) , Pe ch e ha m (W . Peckham) , ( East Peckham) , O t ri n e b u r N e d st e d e g y (Wateringbu ry) , (Nettle Ha llin e s M e d de st a n e stead) , g (Yalding) , ( Maid Bolto n e M o n ch e n se i stone) , ( Boughton M onchel C e r t h Su t t o n e sea) , (Chart Su tton) , (Sutton S u dt o n e O le cu mb e Valence) , ( East Sutton) ,

U Bolt on e . ( lcombe) , Archiepiscopi ( B Malherbe) , Pi v n t n e Bo e le i . e o g ( Bewley in B Malherbe) , Pe v i n t on Plu cke le i R ot i n e ( g ) , (Pluckley) , g (Rot Lit e ce r t G ing in Pluckley) , (Little Chart) , erth C e r t h C E sh e t e s fo rd M ill , (Great hart) , or E ste M e rs e ha m Aldin fort (Ashford) , (Mersham) , g L m n e Bon in t on e tone (Aldington) , Li mes ( y ) , g Bilsv it o n e Rochi n e s ( Bonnington) , (Bilsington) , g O rle v e r st o n e O rle s t o n W e ra ho r n e ( Ruckinge) , ( ) , T i n ti n t on e (Warehorne) , Dene (Tinton i n Ware A e ld r e s r horne) , p (Appledore) , Palestre (Palste

N e w e de n e . i n Wittersham) , (Newenden) I n the rest of C he n th ( K ent) the chief places Bro mle i mentioned in Domesday were ( Bromley) , An d r i a 7 e d . 7

Lo li n st on e T a re n t e fort e g (Lullingstone) , (Dart ha Ro v e sce st re ford) , G raves m (Gravesend) , E s le d e s Sca i e (R ochester) , (Leeds) , p g (Sheppey) , Fa v e r s ha n t VVi W e (Faversham) , ( y ) , Gover C a n t u a r ia sham (Godmersham) , (Canterbury) , Fo re wic Rocu lf ( Fordwich) , (Recu lver) , Tanet San d wice E s t r e i (Thanet) , (Sandwich) , ( Eastry) , Ad d e la m D o u e re Fu lch e st a n (Deal) , (Dover) , n e ) , H eda (Hythe) , and Romene

One thing that strikes one at once i s the proo f any li st of K entish villages gives of the forestal K character of ent . As one of my aims i s to save trouble on the part of some futu re writer who s ha ll produce the long overdue H istory of

K - enti sh Place N ames , I wi ll here transcribe all a which indicate a woodland origin . About few

I am doubtful , but probably others which I have in ignorance left ou t would balance them . There 20 are in thi s li st of the characteri stic dens , although fa r more su rvive as the names of manors or now uninhabited parts ; there are 1 5 hu rsts and 35 wood s— some of the last being no doubt modern a s names of places . I make 1 74 of these forestal names a s under Ackh old Abbey Wood , (Oakwood) , Acol (alias ! ’ Wood) , Acri se (Oakridge) , Appledore , Arnold s

Oak , Ash , Ashenden , Ashford , Ashley , Ashu rst , Ba r r o v e g , Bellegrove ( Benenden) , Betteshanger , Bo hu r st Bircholt , g Street , Bough Beech , Bough Box h u r s t ton (fou r) , ( Boxley) , Bredhu rst , B road B ro u e swood B roo m ﬁe ld Oak , g , Broome , , H igh B roo m st re e t B rooms , , Bush , Challock Wood , a Cha rt (fou r) , Chartham , Charth m Hatch ,

Cheriton , Chesnu t Street , Cobham Wood , Cow C kh a m den , oc Wood , Cold s Wood , Comp C ro o kh u r s t D e n s t e a d Woods , Street , , Den ( t D i n le d e n stroud , Denton h ree) , Denwood , g , E ri n e E a st Malling Woods , Ea stwood , gg g F Wood , Elmley , E lmley erry , E lmstead (two) , E e horn e E horn e E lmstone , y Hatch , y Street , 78 Pla c m e Na e s i n Ke n t .

’ Ha wke n hu rst F o F Eythorne , , ilmer s Wo d , ive F Fro h olt Oak Green , orest H ill , Four E lms , g , F r le Goathurst Common , G ore Wood , o s y e Wood , Goudhurst , Grove , Grove End , Grov F erry , Grove Green , H atch Green , H awkhu rst , H He n r o v e He n hu r st azelwood H ill , g , , H en He ron d e n Hoa e n wood , , d , H oc kenden , H olling Ho lla n d e n H lm st o n e bourne , , H olm Mill , o , H olt Ho lwo od Hoo ks t e a d S treet , H ill , Green (Oak H H Iv orsmonden , u rst , y H atch (I le K ! K ’ K den) , idbrooke , ing s Wood , ingsnorth , K n ockh a ll K L e wo od , nockholt , Lamberhurst , y , M a le sco mb e Maiden Wood , p , Marden , Mark B o eech , Marw od , M ereworth Woods , Molash , N a d e n Mu ssenden , g , N orthwood , N orwood N u r s t e a d N u t s t e a d (two) , (old ) , Oakhurst , Oak O xe n d e n ley , Old Tree , Otterden , Corner , Pad Pe n e n d e n d ock Wood , H eath , Pen shurst , Perry Pi khu r t F S treet , Perry Wood , c s Green , inden , o Ra in d e n Plu mstead , Plumpton , Quarry Wo d , , ' a Ringwou ld , Rolvenden , S ltwood , Sandhurst ,

S evenoaks , Shadoxhu rst , Sibertswold , S hotten S u o ll den , S ilcox Wood , Sissinghu rst , S marden , Sn a d So u th e r n d e n Hatch , o Street , , Southwood ,

Speldhu rst , Standen , Staplehurst , Swan scombe h Wood , Tenterden , Thornham , T ree Beeches , E ic ke n hu r s t , Waldershare , Waltham , Warden .

Weald , Westenhanger , Westwood (two) , Wi s W o m e n s wou ld senden , , Woodchu rch , Woodcu t V V o od ru ff e H ill , Woodland s (two) , , Woodsid

Green , Wouldham .

AN IV I S ION S K E L D D OF NT .

N IN T E RRUPT E D LY from Saxon times K ent has been divided into di stricts called

Lathes , and these into Hundred s , and Bor owe T these again into s or ownes , the last being in K ent synonymou s and used to t he La n d Di vi s i on s 9 of K e n t . 7

exclu sion of the name parish down to the times

of E lizabeth .

First , a s to the meanings and u ses of these

three words . LATHE takes u s back to the Saxon L ae t h for

land , a nd i n Latin docu ments appears as L e s tu s “ ” L a s t u s e . . S n t i or , g , I n Lasto a c i Augu stin i 1 347 L m . a b a rd e in a deed of , however , derives e la t hia n it from a verb g , to assemble while Z Latham , following the German writer eu ss , says a loe t i the Terr c ze were lands given to the L oe t i . L oe t i i . e i s the Roman form of Leu te , , People ,

i . e , the Teu tonic mercenari es w—ho were imported to defend the Litu s S a x on icu m the eastern and — south - eastern coa st which wa s especially open

to the a ttacks of Scandinavian pirates . The abstru se and i nvolved expl a nation will hardy

. K be preferred I t i s a pu rely entish word . — N R . a H U D ED Thi s f miliar word , ﬁrst found i n K 1 0 A D 0 0 . . the Laws of ing Edgar , , comes a Alle m a n n i sc h from the old H igh Germ n ( ) , H r H r n Hu a re . u n t a e o r u n t e . The t s in N Europe

w - ere the sub divisions of the Gau , the primary w settlement ith independent ju ri sdiction , a word

to be traced in such place - names as Sp e n g a y a n d Wormegay , and even in E ly , for its earliest E li i i ! form wa s g a b r g . But why H undred Some sa y each contai ned an hundred hides of land

(bu t hund red s vary much i n size) . Some say each wa s a district wherein 100 soldiers ha d to be forthcoming i n war—thi s approves itself to

L a mb a rd e and Spelman . Some refer it to the 10 w a s original settlement o f 0 Jutish arriors , sub divi sion s of the Teutonic army which con

quered the B ritons . Brampton thinks each wa s

to contain 100 vi llages . Bu t in view of the his t o r ic a l a n d legal u se of the word one m a y prefer the nu mbe r of the freeholders in an a rea a s con a s t it u t i n g the H und red . Thu s the gre t legal “ 10 authority , Blackstone , says As families of 8 P 0 la c e Na m e s i n K e n t .

10 freeholders made a town or tithing , s o tith ” ings made an H undred . Each had its H undred Court for c ivi l and criminal j uri sdiction ; each its H undred man or constable ; each its H undred Mote or assembly or parliament ; each its Hun

- dred penny , or local tax on and in the H undred .

M ost E ngli sh counties were , and are , divided i t d o r . n o H undre s , wapentakes , ward s So “ 1485 ! Caxton , writing in , say s I n Yorkshire n W e n ben xxii h o d re d e s . Of these word s ap take indicates the defensive military organi sation of the Dani sh intruders , and H undred the more peaceful settlements of J utes and Saxons . A synonym peculiar to Su ssex i s the word Rape , the origin of which is said to “ be that land s seized by the C onqueror were plotted out by the h re pp or rope . TITHING S were the d ivi si ons o f the Hundred or Wapentake or Ward or Rape , and the term K i s u sed in most counties . But in ent Borowe or

Ton or Towne i s u sed instead . A Tything , Free burgh or Decennary , was a d istrict containing ten K hou seh olders , who were answerable to the ing ’ for each other s good behaviour . Each tyth ing d !forme a little commonwealth , and chose i ts d e ca n u s own dean ( or chief man of ten) or head , who was sometimes called Alderman on account of hi s age and experience . M ost commonly , h e however , was called the Borsholder from the

- B Anglo Saxon Bohr a su rety , and alder , head or chief . Th e members of each tything formed a cou rt of ju stice i n which di sputes were heard . Right down to 1836 the inhabitants of an H un dred where damage wa s done were each liable to pay compensation for it . The tendency of small bodies to take petty and shortsighted views in social matters i s evidenced in J ohn ’ ’ Pil r im s r o r e s s Bunyan s g P g , where , quoting a “ much earlier proverb , he speaks of M r . Penny ” ’ ’ - - - i - t h wi se pound foolish , and Mr . Get Hun ’ s d red and lO e i the Shire .

82 P la c m e N a e s i n K e n t .

W IW AR L E T W i - - he ( wara lest) , the lest of t M iddle t u n e people of Wye , together with , beca me later part of the Lathe of Sh e rwin h ope S r w n h 3 h w h e c a o . . S e n o ( y g p , temp Hen , and y g p Thi s name was later changed into that of Scray . What i s the meaning of S herwin ! i n hope H ope Saxon denotes a river valley , a n d M e m ori a ls o O ld K e n t Sands , i n hi s f , Sh e r wa speaks of the brook y , which falls into ! the Beult . But what of Scray

LIM O W ART Lim e a , or , denotes the people of L m n e L e m a n is y , the old Roman Portu s , called Lim e n e 1291 L m e n e L m e n 1396 in , then y , y , 1 4 75 L m n 480 e 1 . Li mne , and y I do not ﬁnd the intru sive and erroneou s p in the name earlier 1 504 Shi e than . Th e name was changed to pp way or S hipway , temp . H enry I I I . , and a place L m n in y e i s still called Shipway Cross .

U T N f S D O E i . a . O d , , the town south Dartfor , di stingu ished from other Suttons by the later ” a ddition of at H one , which i s said to mean low in the valley .

E L E S FO RD e , ou r Aylesford , i s so spell d in D S a x on C h r o n i cle omesday , bu t in the i t is E e lsf r d N e n n iu E i s f rd o s o . g , and in g I t may very well have been named b v the Saxons after

- Bi ll th e Teutonic hero archer or demigod g , though the Celtic Eglwys , a chu rch , has been ZE le s t h r e s . e uggested I t also appear s as g p , and E c la f for thi s a personal name g ) , with h r t e p or thorp for town has been suggested . But e t thorp we g from the Danes , and ﬁnd chieﬂy N E . K . in the . There are none in ent

- ffi i n The place name d i cu lty , h owever , i s t e n s ifie d L a mb a rd e when we find , according to 1 5 70 3 ’ 14 1 . u in , H und red s i n S Aug stine s , in She wa 18 14 8 i n p y , in Scray , in Aylesford , and

- a t - Sutton H one , many of them bei ng long i O C orn lo . bsolete names , such a s in S Augu s ’ Sh e wa C a le hill tin e s , Franchesse in p y , i n L a n d D iv i s i on s of K e n t . 83

E t ho rd e C d e h h Scray , y in Aylesford , and o d s e t e

- t - in Sutton a Hone . And then in some places

- there are H alf Hu nd red s , wh ich , however , did

not exi st before the reign of Edward I I . As a matter o f nearer local interest I may quote the divi sion s and a ssessments in the time O f the Black Prince of the borough s of the M d t n H undred of a y s o e .

Borough of M a yd e st on e was assessed a t 19 Westre (now West Borough) at n w S tone ( o Stone S t . Wa rd) at Loose at D e t li n ge at (These two vill a ges were attached to stone ecclesiastically until the reign of

beth) .

5 . d . Lynton and C r ookh e r s t at 50 8 East Fa rle ygh e at 4 5 1 Boxley at 4 3 4 Su m £38 18 3 I do not u nderstand the omission of the — boroug—h o f Week or Wyke whence Week Street oi which the old manor hou se still

remain s in Week Street , u nless i t was then

included in Boxley .

The study of the place - names of a county (as ha s been we ll done for ou r neighbou r Sussex) mainly conﬁnes itself to the derivation and meaning of exi sting town s and villages , rivers , and hills , and I have done little more in these notes . Bu t the subject i s not then exhau sted , for there i s much of great interest to be gathered from th e names of Hund reds , of Manors , and even of separate farms , and thei r consideration would largely extend the enqu i ry . For example , the H und red E yh o rn e in 134 7 had the m a nors O f He rbylt o n e ( Harbledown in Harri etsham) , R f H d rn e Bro mﬁe ld i s sh e o rd e in e co , and Ledes , 84 P la ce N a m e s i n K e n t .

‘ O le co mb e He r e t e sha m S utton Valence , , y ,

‘ T h or n e ha m E n t on Be n e b e r W r e n st e d , y , g y , , ' F r e n s t e d W tc hlin , Yoke , y g e , Aldington Sept

e - - W o rm se ll o vance , B o ton , Malherbe cu m , F ke St ockb e r e L a n e le B n o r ham , y , g , yg , Aldington

O tt e h m - M n h e l a . o c se Cobham , , B y alias West b olt o n e Fa rn e b ou rn e L , West , S helve in enham , L e n e ha m Be r he st e d e Bu e le , Downe , g , g y , ’ ' C h e rle t o n e B re s s i n e , and g , many of these names being very u nfamiliar now .