Place-Name and Archaeological Evidence for Anglo-Saxon and Viking Settlement in the East Midlands - page 2
Keywords: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, East Midlands, Anglo-Saxon Settlement, History, Anglo-Saxons, Anglo Saxons, Vikings, Place-Names, Archaeology, Place Names, Nomenclature, Onomastics
By elliot5200 on 18/02/2007
Level: Bachelor Honours Degree (BA, BEng, BSc etc)
Page Number: 2 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
distance was over four times greater. Thus, unlike places in Derbyshire such as Clownholme, which is near the Roman town of Rocester, and also Derventio (Little Chester), from where the Margary 182 ran to the Trent, Dunham and Marnham in Nottinghamshire are not situated near any Roman roads. Instead, Unwin suggests that –inga and –ingas place-names are much nearer to Roman remains in Nottinghamshire than the -ham place-names. This contradicts Cox, who concludes, despite the evidence being ‘not as clear cut’ in Nottinghamshire that, ‘The evidence for Nottinghamshire, therefore, shows ham in direct association with Roman roads and Roman settlements’.
Thus, it appears that –ham place-names in Nottinghamshire are located nearer to rivers than Roman settlements. Since –ham is the earliest Anglo-Saxon place-name suffix, as Cox suggests, it makes sense that the first Anglo-Saxons to arrive would form their settlements near good water supplies. Unwin suggests that the -ham towns that are situated near Roman settlements in Nottinghamshire could be explained by both the Anglo-Saxons and Romans sharing a preference for settling near rivers, although admits that there is little archaeological evidence to support this.
Kuurman analysed the link between the distribution of Anglo-Saxon pagan burials and –inga and –ingas place-names in the East Midlands. He notes that although a pagan burial site was found by an outlying cluster of inhumation tumuli between the rivers Dove and Derwent, there are no –inga or –ingas place-names in this area. In general, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, the pagan burials are restricted to the south of the River Trent, whilst the –inga and –ingas names are found on both sides of the River. He concludes that the early pagan burial sites were the Anglo-Saxons’ primary settlements, whereas the –inga and –ingas place-names indicate their secondary settlements, which were more attractive. For example, in Nottinghamshire places like Gelding and Nottingham had good drainage, so that there was little risk of them flooding.
The Anglo-Saxon arrival into Nottinghamshire is believed to be around the sixth century, which is late compared to their earliest stages of settlement. A pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery was found in Newark, which was used from the late-fifth to sixth century. The distribution of early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, material culture and early place-names in Nottinghamshire seems to be focused on the Trent Valley and South Nottinghamshire. Some finds indicate that early Anglo-Saxon immigration barely went beyond this area, although there is evidence of later
Last 5 comments…
There have been no comments posted for this article, but you need to register if you want to be the first!