Why do English towns have weird names?

Roman contributions to British place names come mainly through their Latinisation of pre-Roman names. A Celtic name that had been rendered by earlier Greek visitors as Pretanniké became the Roman Britannia; an ancient name of obscure meaning became Londinium.

What is a ghost town name?

Ghost towns often have names that are oddly grim or creepy. Realistically speaking, a ghost town was usually a regular town at one point, so their name would’ve likely been a regular town name as well. But many abandoned towns will get a new name or a nickname, and those are covered in this generator.

What does Parva and Magna mean?

big and small
Magna and Parva simply mean big and small in Latin, while the Sheepy part comes from the Anglian words for Sheep, “scep” and island, “eg”. Eg didn’t necessarily mean island in the middle of a lake or ocean, it could also refer to dry land in a marshy area.

Is there a place called Scratchy Bottom?

Scratchy Bottom (or Scratchy’s Bottom) is a clifftop valley between Durdle Door and Bat’s Head in Dorset, England. A dry valley in the chalk, it is surrounded by farmland at its sides and landward end, with cliffs at the seaward end. … Scratchy Bottom has been noted for its unusual place name.

What does Cote mean in a place name?

French (Côte): topographic name for someone who lived on a slope or riverbank, less often on the coast, from Old French coste (Latin costa ‘rib’, ‘side’, ‘flank’, also used in a transferred topographical sense).

What is the weirdest UK town name?

Boggy Bottom, Cockermouth, Cockfosters, Crudwell, Greedy Gut, Greensplat, Ha-Ha Road, Moofield, Mudchute, Mudford Sock, No Place, Once Brewed/Twice Brewed, Penistone, Pratt’s Bottom, Pucklechurch, Queen Camel, Rotten End, Sandy Balls, Scratchy Bottom, Spanker Lane, Tiddlywink, Tokers Green, Upperthong, Ugley, Westward …

Is there a place called piddle?

The Piddle Valley is often cause for tittering, but Piddle in Old English just means ‘marsh or fen’. Piddletrenthide was described in the Domesday Book as an ‘estate on the River Piddle assessed at thirty hides’.

Is there a place called Scratchy Bottom in the UK?

Scratchy Bottom is a cliff-top valley in rural Dorset, near the village of Chaldon Herring. The valley’s name is thought to refer to the fact it is a rough and rugged hollow.

Is there a town called twatt?

Twatt is a settlement in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. It is located on the Shetland Mainland on a minor road that leads from the A971 road to Clousta, north of Bixter. The settlement is within the parish of Sandsting.
…
Twatt, Shetland.
Twatt
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SHETLAND
Postcode district ZE2
Dialling code 01595

What Anglo Saxon place names still exist today?

We can spot many other Anglo-Saxon words in modern day place names in Britain today. Examples include: “Leigh” or “Ley” – meaning a forest clearing – Henley, Morley, Chorley. “Bury” – meaning a fortified place – Bury, Shaftesbury, Newbury.

What’s the biggest village in the UK?

Several places claim to be the largest village in England. This title is disputed as there is no standard definition of a village as distinct from a town and ‘largest’ can refer to population or area.
…
Contenders.
Village Kidlington
Ceremonial county Oxfordshire
Population 2011 Census 15,046
Area (km²) 9.12

Is there a place called Brokenwind?

Brokenwind, Aberdeenshire

The Hamlet of Brokenwind is located near the village of Newmachar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was voted third ‘worst place names’ in the British Isles in 2012.

Is Brokenwind a real place?

However, Christian confirmed that Brokenwind is indeed real and is a little hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

What’s the smallest city in the UK?

St Davids
The current smallest city in the UK by population is St Davids in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of about 1,600. Marazion takes heart that St Asaph in north Wales (with a 3,355 population) was made a city as recently as 2012. Perhaps, inevitably, the campaign has not been welcomed by everyone.