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My 1st (unfiltered) pass in #mapping #English #PlaceNames taking the form ‘X-on/upon-river Y’ (e.g. Stratford-on-Avon). Data (158 names) incl. both surviving & ‘lost’ names, with dates of 1st reference ranging from 900-1983! The distribution is intriguing, espec. the absence of names in the S & E, as is the tendency for names to cluster. Only named rivers drawn. Now time to slice, dice, & play. Your thoughts welcomed. #Medieval #EarlyModern #Names #EnvHist #Histodon #HistGeog #Rivers #Maps
It maps to 9th Century Mercia quite well. But that might just be pattern matching. It would be interesting to have a Gazette of place names on rivers in the South East and what the derivation of their names looks like.
@simon_lucy @rlcj Quite a few in Northumbria / Berenicia too. Could the relative lack in the south be d5u to a different settlement pattern and generally smaller streams?
@markhburton @simon_lucy All good observations. In part the southern absence may be accounted for by earlier naming conventions. Take the Exe, for instance. No -on-Exe names, but a plethora of core names incorporating the river-name. Exmouth, Exminster, Exwick, Up Exe, Nether Exe, Exebridge, Exton, etc. This is repeated for Dorset Stour (although Blandford Forum was Blaneford super Stur in 1279), the Tarrant etc.
@simon_lucy Pattern matching I suspect. Most of these names begin without a suffix, then (if we follow date of first atteststion—always a dangerous thing to do!) then the suffix peak is 1200-1349.
@rlcj Such names make sense when there is another place by the same name. The area where such names do not occurr (East Anglia and the different -sexxes, near the coast from where they came, might be areas where Anglo-Saxons settled first, so the first settlements (without distinguishing extension) might have been there. Then after moving into other areas, the names might have been reused, now with an extension. (Just an idea).
@nannus It is a good hypothesis. But I’m not sure it stands up. If we follow the R. Bure in Norfolk (with no river suffixes) we find quite a lot of places with recurrent names that take suffixes elsewhere, e.g. Upton, Walsham, Stratton, Brampton. Or along the R. Wensum: Drayton, Weston, Morton, Elmham, Twyford, Norton. The peak of suffix coinage occurs (if we tentatively take dates of first attestation as a guide) in the 12th-early 14th century so not a pre-Conquest phenomenon.
@nannus However I absolutely agree that this is about differentiation of places sharing the same name.
@rlcj If it increased from the 12th to the 14th century, it might have something to do with increase of economy and trade in those days, leading to more cases of mame conflicts. As long as the "economic horizon" of people was limited, a place with the same name further away would not have been a problem. Using river names to get the suffixex might reflect the role of rivers as trate routs, which would make them prime candidates to divide the whole map up into regions.
@nannus It’s more likely to be taxation (isn’t it always!). I have noted, but not yet analysed, what kind of records these names 1st appear in. This will give a sense of bureaucratic or community usage. These names initially behave like manorial affixes (an earlier study of mine) then diverge. On-river names top; manorial affixes btm by date of first reference. The question still remains, with many options available to distinguish a place, why do some use the river and others not.
@nannus If trade, why do important trade rivers like the Severn and the Witham have so few on-river names? This is all super intriguing isn’t it. Thanks for your interest and you input. I really appreciate it! Keep the ideas coming!
@rlcj In Germany we also have such names based on rivers, like "Frankfurt am Main", "Frankfurt an der Oder" (there are more examples). Other towns are distinguished by other means.
@rlcj
That's a fascinating pattern! I've no idea what has lead to it, I'm afraid.
@northfolk
@rlcj "with dates of first reference from 900" - so were the ones in the south-east missed because they were named earlier? 
It would be interesting to compare with similar names in mainland Germanic-speaking countries, and if that matches any of the theories about where the various groups of Angle/Saxon/Jute/Fries settlers came from.
@DrHyde Nothing missed in the SE. The core name might be pre-900. But the suffix is added later. Bradford-on-Avon appears the earliest: (æt) Bradanforde be Afne in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (A), written c. 900 AD, in the entry for the year 652. But we go with the date of the source.
@rlcj that is interesting. Forgive my ignorance, but do these placenames mostly take the form of "Old English name on Celtic Avon" ?
@WhistlingTreason @rlcj A lot on/upon Trent, Severn, Wye, Thames. Also Irwell/Orwell I think.
@markhburton @WhistlingTreason Greatest concentration is on the lower part of the River Soar, Leics and Notts. No Irwell/Orwell names currently in the database.
@markhburton @WhistlingTreason Excellent. Had evaded me. Barton on Irrwelle in 1277. Added to the database. Find me more!
@WhistlingTreason Klub Kakophonika downloaded. On. Loving it. Both versions of The Kult. Keep up the good work, my friend.
@rlcj oh wow, thanks. Glad you're enjoying it! I thought that ep would be of niche interest at best, but weirdly it's been very popular.
@WhistlingTreason In large part yes. But that is to be expected given the distribution and the survival of Brittonic river-names and the high number of Old English place-names. The vast majority of these suffixes are applied to common/recurrent Old English place-names e.g. Aston, Barton, Bradford, Burton, Eaton, Newton, Walton, Weston etc. A good smattering of Old Scandinavian names too, e.g. Crosby, Kir(k)by.
@rlcj Looks like a big majority are in Severn-Trent and Yorkshire Water areas.
@DanielHunter Can’t speak to Yorkshire Water, but I reckon Severn-Trent’s customer service was better in the thirteenth century by which time most of these names had been coined!
@rlcj Just wondering if the naming convention could have spread by water. This was presumably once England’s main transport network.