Category: Histories of British towns, villages and cities

By Tim Lambert Early Wellingborough Wellingborough began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement. It was once called Waendel’s burh, which means Waendel’s fortified settlement. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Wellingborough probably had a population of about 250. By the standards of the time, it was a large village. (A typical village would be… Continue reading A History of Wellingborough

By Tim Lambert Early West Meon In the 6th century, a people called the Jutes from Denmark settled along the Meon Valley. (As late as the 18th century, the Meon Valley was called Jutedene, which meant Jute valley). The tribe that settled there was called the Meon wara (wara meant people or tribe). They gave… Continue reading A History of West Meon

By Tim Lambert Early Westbury The town of Westbury in Wiltshire began as a Saxon settlement. It was called west burh, meaning west fortified settlement. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 Westbury probably had a population of about 700. It would seem very small to us but by the standards of the… Continue reading A History of Westbury

By Tim Lambert  Early Westminster Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) built a royal palace in the countryside outside the walls of London. He also built a church, Westminster Abbey, consecrated in December 1065. In December 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned in Westminster Abbey. Since then every English monarch has been crowned there (except for Edward V and… Continue reading A History of Westminster

By Tim Lambert Early Weymouth In the Middle Ages, there were two small settlements on either side of the River Wey. They were Weymouth and Melcombe. Both grew into little ports. In 1252 Weymouth was made a borough (being made a borough gave it certain liberties). Melcome was made a borough in 1280. In the… Continue reading A History of Weymouth

By Wendy Pyatt Whitby is best known for its Jet jewelry, wonderful fish, Captain Cook, Whitby Abbey, Dracula, and the North York Moors Railway. But where does the name come from? Whitby was originally called Sinus Fari by the Brigantes who were a Celtic tribe controlling large sections of Northern England but by 71 AD… Continue reading A History of Whitby

By Tim Lambert Whitehaven in the 17th century Whitehaven was a fishing village until the 17th century. The Priory of St Bees owned the village until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539. In 1630 Sir Christopher Lowther purchased the estate. He decided to use Whitehaven as a port for exporting coal from the Cumbrian… Continue reading A History of Whitehaven

By Tim Lambert Wickham in the Middle Ages In Roman times Wickham was on the road from Winchester to Chichester. There was probably a small Roman settlement at Wickham along the main road. After the Romans left people called the Jutes from Denmark invaded central Hampshire. The tribe who settled there were called the Meon… Continue reading A History of Wickham

By Tim Lambert Early Wigan Wigan began as a village but in the 13th century, it grew into a town. In 1246 the king granted Wigan a charter (a document giving the people certain rights). From then on Wigan had weekly markets. (In the Middle Ages there were few shops so if you wished to… Continue reading A History of Wigan

By Tim Lambert Early Wincanton Today Wincanton is a pretty village in Somerset but it was once an important market town. It was once called wincawel tun. The word wincawel is Celtic and means white cawel (cawel being the original name of the River Cale. Perhaps the water once rushed past and looked white.) A… Continue reading A History of Wincanton