Some major Wirral place-names

 

Some major Wirral place-names



Wirral:1611 map by John Speed

Abbreviations

    ON                         Old Norse

    OE                         Old English

    ODan                     Old Danish

    OIr                         Old Irish

    Pers. n.                   personal name

    DB                         Domesday Book (1086/7)

Arrowe

“A shieling”, from ON erg or ærgi. A shieling refers to pastureland away from the farmhouse. The practice of sending cattle away from the farmhouse, thus saving the local pasture for winter fodder is known as “transhumance” and is still practiced in modern Norway. The preponderance of many field names in the locality bearing the Arrowe element, as recorded in the 19th century tithe maps, suggests this practice was followed in Wirral until at least 150 years ago.

Birkenhead

Birki-höfuð “Headland growing with birch trees”, from OE birce, influenced by ON birki and OE heafod, influenced by ON höfuð.

Caldy (formerly Little Caldy) and Calday Grange (formerly Great Caldy, now Grange)

Kald-eyjar “Cold islands” from ON kaldr or OE cald and ON ey or eyjar (plural).

E. Eckwall and J. McN. Dodgson both provide convincing arguments for Kald-eyjar:

Caldei (-e, -a) Calder(a) would mean the district of the cold islands’ denoting a territory including the islands of Hilbre and the opposing high ground on the Wirral mainland occupied by Grange, Caldy and West Kirby townships. Within such a district Calders would be the name of a mainland hill and the settlements upon it.

Claughton

Klakkr-tún “Hamlet on a hillock” from ON klakkr (hillock) and ON tún, or OE tun.

Denhall

From ON or ODan Danir “The Danes” and OE wella “spring”. Possibly the nucleus of a Danish community.

Frankby

“Franki’s (or Frakki’s) village or settlement” from ODan pers. n. Franki or ON pers. n. Frakki and ON býr. Dodgson originally believed this as “Frenchman’s farmstead”, although more recent opinion appears to favour the former, i.e. the settlement of Franki the Dane. G. Fellows-Jensen considers this as key evidence for Danish settlers possibly coming via the Isle of Man. J. McN. Dodgson made the comment “the old personal name Franki would be remarkable in a Norse-Irish district like this”, although the consensus of opinion is the Danes were in Wirral in more than inconsiderable numbers, particularly if the unusually high number of bys in the area are to be explained. Nevertheless, a reference to unus Francigena … habet ii carucas (one Frenchman … has two ploughs) in the Domesday entry for Little Caldy suggests that Frankby was the Frenchman’s Farm and Franke is an ethnic term, not a personal name. These matters are considered in some detail by Judith Jesch in Chapter 1 of Wirral and its Viking Heritage.

Gayton

Geit-tún “Goat farmstead”, from ON geit and ON tún or OE tun.

Greasby

From OE græf (stronghold) and ON býr or ODan bý. Scandinavianised form of OE Gravesberie, with the Scandinavians changing OE byrig (wood) to ON by or býr. This is a good example of the Scandinavian settlers taking an existing English place-name and modifying it to what for them would have been a more understandable or pronounceable form.

Helsby 

“Settlement at the cave or hole” or “Settlement on a ledge”. From ON hellir (cave/hole) or ON hjall(ledge) and ON býr. Just outside Wirral but a Norse outlier. Helsby Hill can be clearly seen from the M56 motorway on the southern side.



Heswall

“Hazel spring” from ON hesli or OE hæsel, OE wælla (spring).

Irby

Íra-býr “Settlement of the Irish”, or possibly “Settlement of Scandinavians from Ireland”, from ON Írar and ON býr or ODan bý. Irby has promoted considerable discussion as to the nature of the Scandinavian community in the district. If the origin of the name is “settlement of the Irish” this is clear indication some Irish settlers came over the Irish Sea with the Norse settlers (as corroborated by the Ingimund story, Hiberno-Norse stonework and the Irish place-names of Noctorum and Liscard). If, however, it was “settlers of the Norsemen from Ireland”, this means the surrounding Scandinavian community – who gave it its name – would have come from somewhere else, such as the Isle of Man, and may, since -by was most common in Danish settled areas, have been Danish, rather than Norse.

Larton

Leir-tún “Clay farmstead” or “Farmstead at a clayey place” ON leir, ON tún.

Lingham (see Moreton-cum-Lingham)

Liscard

“Hall at the rock” from OIr lios na carriage. Possibly influenced by ON skarð (scar/rock). This links the place-name with other evidence for Irish and Hiberno-Norse settlers in Wirral.

Meols, Great and Little

From ON melr (sandbank, sandhills). The old seaport of the Viking community on Wirral and the site of many key archaeological finds.

Mollington Torold (now Great Mollington)

Although Mollington is an English name “Moll’s farm”, the manorial affix is from ON pers. n. Þóraldr. The land was in possession of the Thorot or Torold family in the 14th century.

Moreton-cum-Lingham

Lyng-hólmr “Heather island on a marsh” from  ON lyng, ON hólmr or “Long island on a marsh” from ON lang, ON hólmr. Now the Moreton Shore area. Until the construction of 20th century sea defences, this area was always prone to flooding from the sea. Moreton is from OE mere and OE tun.

Ness

Nes “Promontory” from ON nes or OE næs.

Neston

Nes-tún “Farmstead at or near the promontory” from ON nes or OE næs and ON tún or OE tun. In Viking times – well before the change in coastline – Neston would have been accessible by the River Dee. The Church of St. Mary and St. Helen is the home of some remarkable Viking stonework, indicating a Scandinavian population. The Viking rather than the English origin for Neston would thus appear to be preferred.

Noctorum

“Hill that’s dry” or “Dry Hill” from OIr cnocc (hill) and OIr tÍrim.

Pensby

“Village or settlement at a hill called Penn” from ON býr or ODan bý. The first element is either the name of the hill or a Celtic word meaning “top, end”.

Raby

Rá-býr, “Village or settlement at a boundary” from ON rá and ON býr or ODan bý. Settlement at the Norse/English boundary. With Hargrave signifying the English side of the boundary this Norse name indicates the limit of the Scandinavian enclave in Wirral.

Storeton

Stor-tún “The great farmstead” from ON stór and ON tún. Dodgson has suggested the first element might possibly come from ON storð ‘a young wood, a plantation, land growing with brushwood’. This is probably the more likely.

Thingwall

Þing-vǫllr “Assembly field” or “Assembly fields”. From ON þing and ON vǫllr. Meeting place or parliament for the Norse community in the Wirral. Situated right in the centre of the Scandinavian enclave.

Thurstaston

Þorsteinns-tún “Þorsteinn’s farmstead” from ON pers. n. Þorsteinn and ON tún.

Tranmere

Trana-melr “Cranes’ sandbank” from ON trani or (plural) trana and ON melr. Sandbank with the crane-birds or herons. There was also Tranmere Pool (now lost). This would have been the site of the previously named Raynildes Pool, as recorded in 1330, from the ON woman’s name Ragnhildr, and nearby Gonnille Pool, named after another Scandinaviasn woman Gunnhildr.

Wallasey

Originally Kirkby Í Waleya Kirkju-býr “Village with the Church in Wallasey” from ON kirkja, ON býr or ODan bý. The Scandinavian settlers approaching the north Wirral coastline from the Irish Sea would have seen the wooden Saxon church of St. Hilary’s: they gave the name to this place as Kirkby.

`


West Kirby

Vestr-Kirkjubýr “The west village of the church” from ON vestry, ON kitkja (church) and ON . býr. The “west” distinguishes it from the other Kirkjubýr in Wallasey. The Church is St Bridget’s, founded by the Scandinavians. All that remains of the original church is the hogback tombstone, which now resides within the present church building.

Whitby

“The white manor or village”. From ON býr and possibly ON hviti (white).

Woodchurch

“Wooden church” or “Church in a wood”. From ON kirkja.

 

 

References and further reading

Bu’lock, J. D., Pre-Conquest Cheshire 383-1066, Cheshire Community Council 1972

Cavill, P., Harding S., Jesch J., Wirral and its Viking Heritage, English Place-Name Society 2000

Dodgson, J. McN. The Place-names of Cheshire Part Four, Cambrdige University Press 1972

Ekwall, E., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, 4th edn. Oxford University Press 1960

Fellows-Jensen, G., Scandinavian Settlement Names in the North West, Copenhagen, 1985

Harding, S., Ingimunds Saga: Viking Wirral, 3rd edn. University of Chester Press 2016

Harding, S., Viking Mersey: Scandinavian Wirral, West Lancashire and Chester, Countyvise Limited 2002

Jesch, J., Scandinavian Wirral in “Wirral and its Viking Heritage” pp 1-10

 https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ncmh/documents/dna/WVH1.pdf

 

There are hundreds of minor Scandinavian-influenced place names in Wirral. If you have a question about any of them, contact us and we'll see if we have any information.

Sue and Steve

 





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