Category Archives: Middle English

Is it a castle? Is it a causeway? Further adventures in historical field-names

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

Everyone likes castles, right? They’re one of the things that make the medieval period what it is in many people’s eyes. Of course, not every castle looks like Bodiam (yes, that one that’s on the cover of pretty much EVERY … Continue reading →

Posted in Castle, Causeways, Field-names, Godalming, History, Landscape, Middle English, Place-Names, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mapping the Medieval Countryside

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

Every now and again, I find out about an online resource that goes on to yield information I did not know existed up until that point, either because it makes available material that was previously unpublished or that was sequestered away … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Documents, Field-names, History, Landscape, Middle English, Peper Harow, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Goldhords in Surrey: a horde of names, any hoards of gold?

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

This post originally trailed the above day workshop held at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology on 22nd June 2016. The event was organised by all-round good egg Murray Andrews, a fellow IoA PhD researcher and late of Medieval Bayton parish. I’m pretty certain the … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Coins, Conference, Field-names, Folklore, Landscape, Middle English, Numismatics, Old English, Place-Names, Portable Antiquities Scheme, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Berries and Beans: William Gill’s estate book and the site of the Eashing burh

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

Eashing (or more accurately the two hamlets of Lower and Upper Eashing), just off the southbound carriageway of the A3 heading towards the Hindhead tunnel and on to the south coast, can stake a claim to be well known in … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Field-names, King Alfred, Landscape, Middle English, Place-Names, Topography, Wessex | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

SMMEFNW 3: Le Portuk

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

The third and final 1332-recorded Puttenham field-name I’m analysing for SMMEFNW is in my opinion the most interesting of the lot, though I can’t say it was a deliberate ploy of saving the best for last since this was the first post … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Charters, Documents, Field-names, History, Landscape, Middle English, Place-Names, Puttenham, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

SMMEFNW 2: le Spych

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

The second field-name to get the SMMEFNW treatment is actually the first to appear in the copied charter text that is the sole testament to all three being analysed. The key information is provided by the following phrase: ‘unu[m] p[as]tu[ram] … q[uam] vocat[um] le Spych‘ = … Continue reading →

Posted in Documents, Field-names, History, Landscape, Latin, Middle English, Place-Names, SMMEFNW, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment