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Dear Keith, Dear All, The street-name Brettgrave was used for a new Council estate at Epsom in 1928 - a revived form of a name last heard of in 1496 for a wood some three miles away. It's one of six simplex names taken from the history of the nearby manor of Horton, though the others are all lords of the manor, not places. The Borough Surveyor evidently got his information from Manning & Bray's History of Surrey. Do we know of any revived names before the 1920s? Is this a practice that begins with local government? And is it true (as I suspect) that the fashion was tried out first on Council tenants, who couldn't do anything about it, while the private sector kept up a preference for streets called Rosebank and Sunnymead? Oh, and a last question - how on earth do people pronounce these revived OE and ME names? Are the Neighbourhood Watch meetings of Swindon bitterly divided between one faction that says Nythe-to-rhyme-with-blithe and another saying Nythe-to-rhyme-with-Luther? Are they going to revive the spellings too, and if so, do we have the software to put eth and thorn on street signs? So many questions... Jeremy Harte -----Original Message----- From: The English Place-Name List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anthony Appleyard Sent: 13 March 2009 06:28 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: revival of ancient names On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:14:22 -0000, Keith Briggs <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Old names are certainly revived: > - in Swindon, names of new suburbs (Nythe, Eldene, Liden?) are taken >from OE charters (S568, ...?) ... >The question is: how widespread is this practice? ... >Should I suspect foul play? Does anyone have provable examples of >ancient names being revived like this, especially for houses, fields, >or farms? I read about a farm called Wilson, recorded first in the early Middle Ages as Wolgerestun, and presumably coming from "Wulfga_res tu_n"; recently its occupants renamed it as "Wulfgar's Farm". I don't know why: postal confusion with someine with surname Wilson in its ordinary origin as "William's son"? ******************************************************************** The information contained in this message is confidential and may be legally privileged. The message is intended solely for the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, or reproduction is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by return e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Visit the Epsom and Ewell Borough Council website at www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk ********************************************************************