Category: Histories of British towns, villages and cities

By Tim Lambert Newport in the Middle Ages Newport is a thriving city in Gwent, South Wales. Newport was created after the Normans conquered Gwent in 1093. In the early 12th century they built a castle by a ford in the River Usk. Soon a little town grew up by the castle. In the Middle… Continue reading A History of Newport

By Tim Lambert Early Newton Abbot Newton Abbot was created in the 13th century. However, originally there were two towns. In the 13th century, England was divided into areas called manors. One, south of the River Lemon was owned by the Abbey of Torre. In 1220 the Abbot founded a new town south of the… Continue reading A History of Newton Abbot

By Tim Lambert Dedicated to Steve and Jane Skinner Early North End In the Middle Ages, a village existed at the end of Kingston Crescent. It was called King’s tun, which meant king’s estate. In the 17th century houses were built north of the village. The new area was called ‘the north end of Kingston’.… Continue reading A History of North End

By Tim Lambert Northampton in the Middle Ages Northampton began as an Anglo-Saxon village. It was called Hamm tun, which means the village by the well-watered meadow. Later it was called North Hamm tun, probably to distinguish it from Southampton. Gradually the name changed to Northampton. When they occupied Eastern England in the late 9th… Continue reading A History of Northampton

By Tim Lambert Anglo-Saxon Norwich Norwich started as a small Anglo-Saxon settlement north of the River Wensum in Norfolk. In time it grew into a town, perhaps because of its situation on a river. (In those days it was much cheaper and easier to transport goods for sale by water than by land). It became… Continue reading A History of Norwich

By Tim Lambert Saxon Nottingham Nottingham began in the 6th century as a small settlement called Snotta inga ham. The Anglo-Saxon word ham meant village. The word inga meant ‘belonging to’ and Snotta was a man. So its name meant the village owned by Snotta. Gradually its name changed to Snottingham then just Nottingham. It… Continue reading A History of Nottingham

By Tim Lambert Nuneaton began as a Saxon farmstead (tun), by the water (ea). By the time of the Domesday Book (1086), it had grown into a fairly large village. In the middle of the 12th century, the Lord of the Manor gave the village to a French Abbey. They built a priory (small abbey)… Continue reading A History of Nuneaton

By Tim Lambert Saxon Oxford Oxford was founded in the 9th century when Alfred the Great created a network of fortified towns called burghs across his kingdom. One of these was at Oxford. There may have been a village already existing there or Alfred may have created a new town. The streets of Anglo-Saxon Oxford… Continue reading A History of Oxford

By Tim Lambert Dedicated to Lee Norris Early Paulsgrove There is a story that St Paul once came to England and he landed north of Portsmouth Harbour by a grove of trees. Afterward, the grove was called Paul’s grove. In reality, it was named after a Saxon named Palla. It was Palla’s grove. Wymering was… Continue reading A History of Paulsgrove

By Tim Lambert Early Penzance Penzance began as a small fishing village. It is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. There may have been a settlement at that time that was too small to warrant a mention or it may have grown up later. The name Penzance is derived from the Cornish words… Continue reading A History of Penzance