And not only can you see their history in how they have impacted the land physically, in buildings and monuments – you can also get a window into the past through the enduring names given to those places, with some of them coming from bizarre sources.
When it comes to British place names, Anglo-Saxon origins tend to dominate in the south and Scandinavian languages in the north, mixed in with Old British or Celtic terms for natural features such as hills and rivers. Sheffield still shows the influence of all three factors in the names we find today.
Often towns and villages share common endings such as -tun (settlement), -ham (homestead), -feld (farmland), -by (village), -caester (Roman stronghold), -worthig (enclosure), -dun (hill), -halh (nook of land) – but these usually follow a first element which is much harder to define, especially when a personal name is concerned.
The famous Domesday Book – a land survey commissioned by William the Conqueror and completed in 1086 – shows some Sheffield names which have been modernised but otherwise changed very little in all that time.
To understand where they came from, we went looking in sources including the Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names, to put together this gallery.
They give an insight into history.
Take a look at the gallery below.
1. The historic meanings of place names
We have found the old historic meanings of 21 Sheffield place names. Some are beautiful, but some of are pretty grim Photo: Google
2. Bolsterstone
Bolsterstone: Recorded in 1398 as Bolstyrston. The meaning is Stone on which criminals are beheaded. Photo: Google streetview
3. Beighton
Beighton: Recorded as Bectune in 1002 and 1086. Meaning is farmstead by the stream Photo: Google
4. Dore
Dore: Mentioned in the late ninth century and the Domesday book, it means place at the gate, or narrow pass Photo: Google