Hampton (place name)
The place name Hampton is of Old English origin and is common in England, particularly in the South of England and Central England. It can exist as a name in its own right or as a prefix or suffix. The name suggests a farm settlement, especially one where pastoral farmers keep livestock on flood-meadow pastures. The name was exported around the world both as a place-name and as a surname, especially to those countries where the English language is an official language. Examples of place-names include:
Etymology
The English toponymist P. H. Reaney has suggested that the name element Hampton may derive from:
- Old English hām + tūn – "village with a home farm".[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]
- Old English hamm + tūn – "village with a flood-meadow or pasture".[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6]
The English toponymist Victor Watts has suggested the following possibilities:
- Old English hēah + tūn – "high settlement"[3][lower-alpha 7]
- Old English hamm + tūn:[3]
- "settlement or estate in a river bend".
- "settlement or estate between rivers".
- Old English hām + tūn – "home farm".[3]
Examples (home farm)
Examples of Old English hām and tūn – "village with a home farm":
Place name | Location | OS Grid | Historic landowner | Home farm | Listed | River name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hampton Gay | Oxfordshire | SP4816 | Robert de Gay | Manor Farm | Grade II[4] | River Cherwell[lower-alpha 8] |
Hampton Poyle | Oxfordshire | SP5015 | Walter de la Poyle[lower-alpha 9] | Manor Farm[lower-alpha 10][lower-alpha 11] | River Cherwell[lower-alpha 12] | |
Hampton Lovett | Worcestershire | SO8865 | Lovet family[lower-alpha 13] | Hampton Farm[lower-alpha 14] | Grade II[5] | Elmbridge Brook |
Examples (meadow)
Examples of Old English hamm and tūn – "village with a flood-meadow or pasture":
Place name | Location | OS Grid | Derivation |
---|---|---|---|
Hampton | Richmond upon Thames | TQ1370 | River Thames[lower-alpha 15][lower-alpha 16] |
Hampton Lucy | Warwickshire | SP2557 | River Avon[lower-alpha 17][lower-alpha 18] |
Examples (high settlement)
Examples of Old English hēah and tūn – "high settlement":
Place name | Location | OS Grid | Derivation | River name |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hampton | Evesham, Worcestershire | SP0243 | High ground[lower-alpha 19] | River Isbourne – River Avon[lower-alpha 20] |
Hampton in Arden | Solihull, West Midlands | SP2081 | High ground[lower-alpha 21] | River Blythe[lower-alpha 22] |
Examples in England
Hampton
- Hampton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Hampton, Cheshire
- Hampton, Herne Bay, Kent
- Hampton, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
- Hampton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire
- Hampton in Arden, Solihull, West Midlands
- Hampton, Worcestershire
Hampton (prefix)
Examples of Hampton followed by a name, usually of a landowner:
- Hampton Gay, Oxfordshire
- Hampton Poyle, Oxfordshire
- Hampton Loade, Shropshire
- Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire
- Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire
Hampton (suffix)
- Littlehampton, West Sussex
- Northampton, Northamptonshire
- Southampton, Hampshire
- Sevenhampton, Gloucestershire
- Sevenhampton, Wiltshire
- Wolverhampton, West Midlands
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reaney 1969, p. 39.
- ↑ Clark Hall 1916, p. 315.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Watts 2007, pp. 275.
- ↑ Historic England. "MANOR FARMHOUSE (Hampton Gay) (1220147)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
- ↑ Historic England. "HAMPTON FARMHOUSE (1288148)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
Notes
- ↑ Chapter Two PLACE-NAME STUDY (P H Reaney). . .Examples of Hampton from Old English hām and tūn – "village with a home farm":
- Hampton, Oxfordshire
- Hampton, Gloucestershire
- Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire. . .[1]
- ↑ WiKtionary : Old English < hām >
- " home ".
- " property, estate, farm ".
- " village; community ".
- ↑ WiKtionary : Old English < tun >
- " an enclosed piece of ground "
- " a village or town "
- ↑ Chapter Two PLACE-NAME STUDY (P H Reaney). . .Examples of Hampton from Old English hamm and tūn:
- Hampton, London, Middlesex
- Hampton, Herefordshire
- Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire. . .[1]
- ↑ WiKtionary: Old English < hamm >
- " enclosure, piece of enclosed land (especially land enclosed by a river) ".
- ↑ Dictionary – Old English ( Clark Hall ) < hamm >
- " piece of pasture land "
- " enclosure "
- " dwelling ".[2]
- ↑ The settlement may be on high ground beside a flood meadow.
- ↑ Manor Farm is beside a flood-meadow of the River Cherwell.
- ↑ English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
< Hampton Poyle > ( hām + tūn )
. . .“held by the Poyle family. . .[3] - ↑ Manor Farm is at the end of Church lane west of the church.
- ↑ See Hampton Poyle > social history > . . .parish church and Manor Farm.
- ↑ Manor Farm is beside a flood-meadow of the River Cherwell.
- ↑ English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
< Hampton Lovett > ( hām + tūn )
. . .“belonging to the Lovet family. . .[3] - ↑ Hampton Farmhouse is on high ground north-east of the railway line.
- ↑ English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
< Hampton > ( hamm + tūn ) . . ."The reference is to a great bend of the River Thames . . .[3] - ↑ The derivation suggests that Hampton was originally a farm settlement where pastoral farmers kept livestock on the flood-meadow beside the River Thames.
- ↑ English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
< Hampton Lucy > ( hamm + tūn ). . ."held by the Lucy family. . .It lies in a large bend of the River Avon. . .[3] - ↑ The village is near an island created by a bifurcation of the River Avon.
- ↑ English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
< Hampton > ( hēah + tūn ) . . . "The village occupies raised ground between Merry Brook and the River Isbourne. . .[3] - ↑ The settlement is near the confluence of the rivers Isbourne and Avon.
- ↑ English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
< Hampton in Arden > ( hēah + tūn ) "The village occupies a plateau of high ground"[3] - ↑ The settlement is near an island created by a bifurcation of the River Blythe.
Sources
- Clark Hall, John Richard (1916). A Concise Anglo−Saxon Dictionary, Second Edition. The Macmillan Company.
- Reaney, P H (1969). The Origin of English Place Names. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Stone, Jean (2014). River Cherwell. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-3443-2.
- Watts, Victor (2007). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.