manna: (Default)
manna ([personal profile] manna) wrote in [personal profile] pensnest 2020-03-26 03:37 am (UTC)

There have been so many successive waves of invasions in Britain post-Ice Age, from various Celts to Romans to Anglo-Saxons to Danes to Normans, that the place names are an amazing mix. I wonder if it's still possible to pick out any pre-Celtic place names anywhere?

Milton Keynes the town is named after Milton Keynes the village. The Keynes part is apparently Norman.

Ings (with the s at the end) is also a Norse word found up in the Danelaw, referring to marshes or water meadows. There's a Hall Ings road in Bradford.

Leeds is supposedly originally from very early Celtic, and Hull is properly Kingston upon Hull, so named after the river. No one ever seems to say where river names come from. I guess they're probably all very old.

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