wellinghall: (Islip)
[personal profile] wellinghall
A recent conversation with [livejournal.com profile] pellegrina and [livejournal.com profile] malaheed led me to look up "old" place names in "The Oxford Dictionary of English place-names".

Place-names beginning with "O L D" that mean "old" (as in "new") are:
- Oldbury in Gloucestershire (where it is Oldbury on the Hill or Oldbury on Severn, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire means "old fort" - as in "pre English"
- Oldcastle in Cheshire means "old castle"
- Oldham in Lancashire means "old holm"
- Oldland in Gloucestershire means "old land"
- Oldmixton in Somerset means "old dunghill" (and there's a Mixon in Staffordshire, again meaning "dunghill")
- there's also Olton in Warwickshire, meaning "old tun".

There are also a few place-names where the "O L D" means something else:
- Old in Northamptonshire means "wold"
- Oldcoates in Nottinghamshire means "owl cots" - cot being "cottage", also "shelter, as for sheep", "manor", "a woodman's hut"
- Old Hurst in Huntingdonshire (it's an old book, okay?) is "wold hurst" - hurst meaning "wood or hill".

Date: 2010-03-25 08:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com
Fascinating! I like 'Oldmixton' best. I'll remember that one if anyone ever complains about my muck heap!

Date: 2010-03-29 09:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com
Indeed! :-)

Profile

wellinghall: (Default)
wellinghall

January 2026

S M T W T F S
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627 28293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Feb. 8th, 2026 03:08 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios