England Tophographical Glossary Ew to Row - International Institute
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The original content for this article was contributed by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course English - Understanding Names in Genealogy by Dr. Penelope Christensen. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($). |
Topographical Glossary (cont.)
| Ew | Yew tree |
| Exe | River |
| -ey | 1. Island, patch of dry ground in marsh, or even a water meadow 2. Water, stream or river |
| Far (n) | Fern |
| Farrow | A wayfaring or path |
| Fauld | Cattle or sheep pen, fold |
| Fell | Hill, mountain |
| Fen | Marshy tract of land |
| Field | Originally unenclosed land, but since 14th century fenced-in land |
| Firth | Arm of the sea, estuary |
| Fit | Grassland on river bank |
| Flash | Water-logged land, swamp |
| Fleet | Creek, inlet, stream |
| Fleet | Creek, long narrow channel, tidal estuary |
| Fold | Enclosure for animals |
| Folly | 1. Footpath 2. Later, a man-made, costly structure considered useless |
| Font | Well, spring |
| Force | Waterfall |
| Ford | Ford, river crossing |
| Forestal(l), Fostall | Paddock, or way to front of farmhouse |
| Fother | Odd scrap of land in open field |
| Frith | Woodland, usually cover for game |
| Ful | Foul or dirty |
| Gair | Cry, roar (perhaps of wind) |
| Galilee | Porch devoted to special purpose |
| Garston | Grassy enclosure, paddock |
| Garth | Originally an enclosure or garden, then the homestead to which it was attached. |
| Garve | Rough place |
| Gat(e) | Goat, Goat |
| Gate, gait | 1. Street, way, road or path 2. Gate, as in a pass or opening in hills |
| Gear | Castle, hill fort, earthwork |
| Gill | Ravine |
| Ginnel | Alleyway |
| Girt | Gravel |
| Glade | Passage between trees |
| Glen | Narrow valley |
| Gollan | Hazel tree |
| Gore | Dirty, filthy |
| Gore | Wedge-shaped piece of ground |
| Gort | Whirlpool, weir |
| Gos | Goose |
| Gott | 1. Channel from a mill dam 2. A water drain on the coast |
| Goyt | River channel |
| Grain | Branch of a valley |
| Grange | Granary farm, place where crops were stored for a feudal lord |
| Gratton | Stubble field |
| Greep | Trench |
| Greet | Gravel |
| Grein | Green |
| Griff | Deep, narrow valley |
| Grit | Gravel |
| Groop | Sheep pen |
| Grove | thicket |
| Gweal | Open field, not enclosed |
| Gwith, Gwyth | 1. Trees 2. River channel |
| Hagg | Woodland marked for felling |
| Hale | 1. Nook or corner 2. Narrow valley [Beware of confusion with a large house known as a hall] |
| Halge | Narrow valley |
| Hall | Nook or corner [Beware of confusion with a large house known as a hall] |
| Halli | Holy |
| Ham | 1. Home, farm or small holding 2. Low-lying meadow beside a stream |
| Hampstead Hempstead |
Homestead |
| Hampton | Home farm, the nucleus of the village |
| Hanger | Slope, sloping wood |
| Hard | Firm ground on bank of river |
| Hardwick | Farm for herd of animals |
| Hatch | Hitch gate, usually in a fence or hedge enclosing a wood |
| Hatch | A bar gate |
| Haugh | 1. Mound 2. Narrow valley |
| Haven | Inlet, harbour |
| Haver | Oats |
| Hay | Hedge; later the enclosure within the hedges |
| Hays | Enclosure in forest for preserving game |
| Hazel | Hazel tree |
| Head | 1. Headland or high ground 2. See also Hide |
| Heal | Sloping hillside |
| Hellick, Hillick | Willow tree |
| Helm | Shelter |
| Hemmel | Field |
| Hen | Wild birds, especially moorhens |
| Hern | Heron |
| Hewish | Homestead |
| Heys | Enclosure in forest for preserving game |
| Hide | Piece of land enough to support a family (80-120 acres) and used for taxation assessment |
| Hind | Deer |
| Hitched land | Part of common field withdrawn from rotation cultivation |
| Hithe | Waterside landing place |
| Hoad, hoath | Heath |
| Hoe | Tongue of high ground |
| Holme | Island, patch of dry ground in marsh, or even a water meadow |
| Holt | Wood or copse |
| Honey | Place associated with production of honey |
| Hook | Sharp angle of land; or headland |
| Hope | 1. Blind valley 2. Dry land in a fen |
| Hope | Slope |
| Hope | Valley running into hills |
| Hope | 1. Bay 2. Valley |
| Hoppit | Small enclosure |
| Howe | Mound, tumulus |
| Huish | House |
| Hulme | Island, patch of dry ground in marsh, or even a water meadow |
| Hummock | Mound or hillock |
| Hunt | Hunting district or other connection with hunting |
| Hurst | 1. Copse, knoll or grove 2. Woodland clearing |
| Hyde | Piece of land enough to support a family (80-120 acres) and used for taxation assessment |
| Hythe | Waterside landing place |
| Inch, Insch | Island |
| Ing | 1. Followers or relatives of a named man, or the place where they lived. Inhabited site. 2. Pasture land |
| Innis | 1. Island 2. Meadowland by a river, field |
| Intake | Land taken from the moor |
| Inver | Creek or river mouth |
| Isca | Water |
| Keld | 1. Cold or chill 2. Children 3. Spring or well |
| Kelly | Grove |
| Kettle | Round basin, narrow valley |
| Kiddle | Illegal weir used for fish poaching |
| Kil | Cell of early church |
| Kirk | Church |
| Knab | Steep hill |
| Knap(p) | Rounded hill-top |
| Knoll | Small rounded hill or mound |
| Knott | Hill |
| Kyle | Strait |
| Lade | 1. Passage of a watercourse, or over one 2. Path |
| Lade and Lode | Water course |
| Laine | Open field |
| Lake | Stream, rather than a large pond |
| Lake | Sluggish stream through a marsh |
| Lammas Land | Land commonable after haysel (?) |
| Lan | Church |
| Lanark | Clearing |
| Lane | Byway, passage, road between hedges |
| Lart | Loft |
| Latch | 1. Stream 2. Bog |
| Lathe | Barn |
| Launde | Woodland pasture |
| Lavant | River, especially one breaking out from a spring on the downs and dry during summer |
| Laver | Babbling brook |
| Law | Low hill |
| Lea, Lease, Lee | 1. Originally a woodland clearing, but later also open land or meadow 2. A wood |
| Leach | 1. Stream 2. Bog |
| Leet | A lead or channel artificially made to carry water |
| Leigh | Lush meadow land |
| Leighton | 1. Homestead where leeks were grown 2. Kitchen garden |
| Les, Lis | Court or palace |
| Leven | Flood |
| Ley | 1. Originally a woodland clearing, but later also open land or meadow 2. A wood |
| Leyland | Land in a common field laid down to grass for a period |
| Lime tree | |
| Links | Boundary |
| Linn | Pool |
| Lip | A leaping place |
| Litten | Burial ground |
| Loan | Grassy lane, cattle track |
| Loch | 1. Enclosed area of water 2. Enclosure or stronghold |
| Loch | Lake |
| Lode | Open drain in fens |
| Loke | Path |
| Lone | Path |
| Long | Ship |
| Looe | Marsh, pool, inlet of water |
| Lound | Sacred grove |
| Low | Low hill |
| Lumb | Deep pool |
| Lund | Sacred grove |
| Lynch | 1. High ridge of land 2. Boundary |
| Lynchett | Cultivated shelf on hillside |
| Lythe | Slope |
| Machar | Plain |
| Maple, Mappul | Maple tree |
| March, Mark | Boundary mark |
| Mars | Marsh or swamp |
| Mead | Meadow |
| Meadow | Land under grass |
| Meare | Boundary [Beware of confusion with Mere] |
| Meer | Ridge left unploughed to mark a strip or field boundary |
| Mellan | Mill |
| Mere | Lake or pool [Beware of confusion with Meare] |
| Michel, Mitchel, Mickle | Large |
| Minster | Monastery, later the monastery church |
| Mire | Bog, swampy ground |
| Mistall | Byre or milk-stall |
| Mont | Low hill |
| More, Moor | Waste or barren upland, usually marshy |
| Moss | Morass, wetland, moor |
| Mound | Low hill |
| Mudge | Mud |
| Muir | 1. Moor 2. Sea |
| Nans, Nant | Valley |
| Nap | Rounded hill-top |
| Ness | Nose-shaped piece of land |
| Ness | Point or headland |
| Neuk | nook |
| Noddons | Raised banks on a flood plain |
| Ny | New |
| Ock | Oak tree |
| Or | River bank, shore, or slope |
| Over | Bank of a river |
| Over | 1. Upper or above 2. Slope, hillside |
| -oy | Island, patch of dry ground in marsh, or even a water meadow |
| Paddock | Small field, usually near a stable or attached to stud farm |
| Peak | Prominent hill (not ‘top’ of a hill) |
| Peel | Defensive palisade, fortified house, tower |
| Pen | Hill |
| Pen | Head or top |
| Per | Pear tree |
| Perrock | Small field, usually near a stable or attached to stud farm |
| Perth | Bush |
| Pick | Prominent hill (not ‘top’ of a hill) |
| Pightle | Small enclosure or croft |
| Pike | Pointed hill |
| Pill | Creek or pool |
| Pinfold | Pound or lock-up |
| Pingle | Small enclosure or croft |
| Pit | 1. Peat 2. Quarry or grave |
| Pit | Part or share |
| Plashet | Swampy meadow |
| Platt | Level field or simply a plot |
| Plum | Plum tree |
| Point | Animal pound |
| Poll | Pool |
| Port | 1. Harbour 2. Town, especially inland |
| Porth | Harbour or cove |
| Poulder | Reclaimed piece of land |
| Prest | Denotes an association with a priest, monk etc. |
| Prid | High |
| Purleu | Land on edge of forest |
| Quarn, Quarr | 1. Mill (Quern) 2. Quarry providing stone for making mill stones |
| Quite | A wood |
| Raike | Sheep track |
| Raikes | Pass, narrow valley |
| Rain | Strip of land on a boundary in places where there is Dutch influence |
| Rake | Pass, narrow valley |
| Rath | Fort |
| Red, Reed | 1. Red 2. Reeds |
| Rhine | Large drain or channel |
| Rid(d)ing | Clearing |
| Ride | Small stream |
| Rig | 1. Elongated field 2. Ridge of high ground 3. strip of building land in a burgh |
| Ripel | Strip of wood, coppice |
| Rith(e) | Small stream |
| Rose | 1. Heath 2. Ford 3. Promontory |
| Ross | Promontory |
| Row | Walk or ride |
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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English - Understanding Names in Genealogy offered by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at wiki@genealogicalstudies.com
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