LIFESTYLE-Magazine-Winter-2016

As the future of the name Hyndburn is debated in the House of Commons; LIFE : STYLE takes a look at the origins of some of our towns . . .

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ver wondered where the name of your town or village came from? In the north, many of our place names were nobbled by the Norwegians aer they invaded the British Isles. When seafaring Norseman seled here between the ninth and eleventh centuries; they struggled to pronounce the sounds Sh and Ch. This led to a meddling of monikers giving Old English name places a Scandi slant, like Shipton becoming Skipton and Cheswick to Keswick. The area seems to have remained largely Anglo-Saxon in its name origins according to records. But understanding the UKs toponymy (study/origins of place names) is a rather grey area due to centuries of changes in language and culture. The subject of toponymy has fascinated academics and sparked furious debates and rebukes for centuries past. Here, LIFE:STYLE digs up some of the most oen noted origins of place names in Hyndburn . . . Accrington In historical records the town appears as Akarinton, Akerunton, Akerinton and Akerynton. Said to be Anglo-Saxon in origin the name is broken down into two parts Acorn / æcern (Old English) and Tun / tūn (Old English for town or enclosure). Altham Without the tricky sh or ch to deal with, Altham’s name remains Anglo Saxon in name. The ham part is Old English (hamm) and means hemmed in by water, marsh or high ground. Name experts are uncertain of its precise origins but propose swans hemmed-in land or Aelfgeats hemmed-in land have been suggested. Baxenden Early court manor records spell the name “Backstonden”. The earliest known record dates from 1305 in the de Lacy records. The name is thought to derive from anglo- saxon bæc stan denu; baking stone valley. Possibly they were mined here or it was the site of a communal oven. The surnames Baxendale and Baxenden originate from this village. The surnames Baxendale and Baxenden originate from this village. Church Otherwise known as Church-Kirk, the town is named not surprisingly from the old English word cirice which means quite simply – a church. Church can probably trace its origins back to the Conquest. The first documentary reference to the selement of Church (in the name Uhtred de Chyrche) is from 1192. As local historianWalter Holmes tells us: “Church Kirk was given the name by the founders of the original church. So it’s church church, church.” Church sits on a long tongue of land between theWhite Ash Brook and Hyndburn River called the Oswaldtwistle (Oswalds twisla or fork of the rivers). It has been both suggested and disputed that Church was established as a temporary place of worship by Oswald, King of Northumbria. Clayton-le-Moors Clayton means a selement built on clay. The first reference to Clayton le Moors was in 1243, when the area was known as Cleyton, derived from the Old English words claeg and tun, meaning a selement on clay soil. By 1284, it had become Clayton super Moras. Moras means, high tract of barren land, referring to the high ground between Accrington and Great Harwood.

Great Harwood Thought to have derived fromGrey wood, rock wood or harewood.There are two possibilities for the origin of the towns name put forward "har" couldmean grey. "Hara" meaning hare. The "Magna" then "Great", was to differentiate between this Harwood, Lile Harwood fivemiles to thewest and Harwood fieenmiles to the south. Martholme, the name of Great Harwood’s Manor House, is thought to be of Danish origin but nothing in particular is known of the area until aerWilliambecame King in 1066. Huncoat In the briefest ofmentions in theDomesday book, the name is of Anglo-Saxon originwhenHun, or Hunna, which historians believe could be either a family name ormeaning honey town - hunig being Old English for honey.The second part, coat, could beCoe andOld English name for a shelter of animals, or cot – a hut, shelter or den. Oswaldtwistle Possibly the most charming of all place names in Hyndburn, Oswaldtwistle is derived from Oswald and Twistle. The word ‘twistle’ is an old English word meaning ‘brooks meet’ ‘fork of river’ or ‘junction of two streams’. Legend has it that Saint Oswald, King of Northumbria once passed through, giving the area its full title of Oswalds Twistle, which in time came to be Oswaldtwistle. Rishton The name Rishton means ‘village’ or ‘farm’ amid the rushes and derives from the Saxon word ‘Risctun’. Historically most of the land in Rishton was pasture and meadowland, with cornfields interspersed. risc (Old English) a rush; in the simplex plural, a place where rushes grow, a rush bed. tūn (Old English) an enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate.

The area seems to have remained largely Anglo-Saxon in its name origins according to records

Right: Shaded area showing the boundary of Hyndburn.

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