[ ENGLISH ]

PLACE NAMES: 1066 - 1500?

NORMAN CONQUEST

For more information about the vast vocabulary of Norman-Latin words which the French brought into English, please click the above hyperlink. What follows are simply some of the place names which followed their invasion.

BATTLE
Funnily enough, the Battle of Hastings did not take place in Hastings. It actually took place at what became called LA BATAILYE (Battle) where an abbey was founded by William so that the monks could pray for the souls of ALL those killed in the fighting.

RICHMOND, Yorkshire (Richemont = strong hill) a great stone castle on the flat-topped cliffs overlooking the River Swale.

-MONT = hill

• Egremont, Cumberland = sharp-pointed hill / Montacute, Somerset = another sharp-pointed hill / Beaumont = Beautiful hills in Cumberland, Lancs, Leics, Essex & Herts. / Rougemont, Bedfordshire = red hill. / Montrose? /

BEAU- (beautiful)

• Beaulieu, Hampshire = beautiful place / Bewley (English version) in Durham and Westmoreland / Belper, Derbyshire = beautiful retreat / Belvior, Leicestershire = beautiful view.

Personal Names were sometimes given Anglo-Saxon -ton suffix =

• Bryanston, Dorset / Waterston, Pembroke after Walter (but the 'l' got dropped).

The DOMESDAY BOOK cemented many place names. The written form became more established over the centuries.

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