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Barnsley Area Place Names

David Exley

In order to learn more about the early history of the Barnsley area various reference books have been consulted on the subject of the derivation of local place names. A list of the source books employed is given at the end of the article in case anyone wishes to take these studies further.

Like myself, most people will have wondered at some time or another about the original meaning of a place-name. Perhaps the name of their home town or village or one of the other familiar places encountered en-route to work for instance. In my own case I wanted to discover whether it was the Anglo-Saxons or the Vikings who were largely responsible for originally establishing the various settlements in the Barnsley area.

The Ordnance Survey map of the Barnsley area, 1 inch to 1 mile, was examined and about sixty settlement names were chosen for study. These places are listed in the table below, together with an early spelling of their name and an indication of its derivation. (See explanatory notes below.)

Barnsley	Berneslai 1086 (DB). 'Woodland clearing of a man called Beorn'. OE pers. name + OE leah (wood, glade, clearing)
Ardsley	Erdeslaia 12th cent. 'Eard's clearing'. OE pers. name + OE leah.
Monk Bretton	Brettone 1086 (DB). Munkebretton 1225. 'Farmstead of the Britons'. Affix from OE munuc 'monk' referring to the monks of Bretton Priory.
Athersley	Part unknown but appears to contain OE leah (clearing).
Carlton	Possibly 'Ceorl's farm or settlement'. OE Ceorl or OS Karl 'head of a peasant household farming 30 acres or more' + OE tun 'farmstead or settlement'.
Staincross	Staincros 1086 (DB) 'Stone cross'. ON Steinn 'stone' + ON kros 'cross'.
Royston	Rorestone 1086 (DB) 'Hror's farm or settlement'. OE pers. name (meaning strong or vigorous) + OE 'tun'.
Applehaigh	Possibly 'enclosure where apple-trees grow'. OE Aeppel 'apple-tree' + OE haga or ON hagi 'hedged enclosure'.
Notton	Notone 1086 (DB). Farm where wether sheep are kept. OE Hnoc 'wether sheep' + OE 'tun'.
Woolley	Wiluelai 1086 (DB). 'Clearing frequented by wolves'. OE Wulf + OE leah.
Darton	Derton 1086 (DB). 'Enclosure for deer, deer park'. OE deor + OE tun.
Kexbrough	Kesceburg c 1170. 'Stronghold of a man called Keptr'. ON pers. name + OE burg 'fortified location'.
Barugh	Possibly 'The hill', from OE beorg 'Hill or mound'.
Higham	Probably 'High (or chief) homestead or enclosure'. OE Heah 'high or chief' + OE ham 'homestead, village' or OE hamm 'enclosure, river meadow, etc.'
Gawber	Galgbergh 1304. 'Gallows hill'. OE Galga 'gallows' + OE beorg 'mound, tumulus'.
Cawthorne	Caltorne 1086 (DB). 'Cold (ie exposed) thorn-tree'. OE Cald 'cold' + OE thorn 'thorn-tree'.
Silkstone	Silchestone 1086 (DB). 'Sigelac's farmstead'. OE pers. name + OE tun.
Dodworth	Dodesuuorde 1086 (DB). 'Dodda's enclosure'. OE pers. name + OE worth 'enclosure or enclosed settlement'.
West Bretton	Bretone 1086 (DB). West Bretton c 1200. 'Western farmstead of the Britons'. OE Brettas 'Britons' + OE tun.
Haigh	Hagh 1379. 'The enclosure'. OE Haga or ON Hagi.
High Hoyland	Holand 1086 (DB). 'High cultivated land on or near a hill-spur'. Affix OE Heah 'high' + OE Hoh 'projecting hill-spur + OE land 'estate, cultivated land'.
Hoylandswaine	Holande 1086 (DB). Holandeswayn 1266. 'Cultivated land on or near a hill-spur', the affix from possession, in the 12th century, by a man called Swein. ON Sveinn.
Thurgoland	Turgesland 1086 (DB). 'Thorgeirr's cultivated land'. ON pers. name + OE land.
Stocksbridge	Not recorded before 1841 but it is likely that the name derives from a farmer, named Stock, who farmed in the area in the 19th cent.
Wortley	Wirtleie 1086 (DB). 'Woodland clearing used for growing vegetables'. OE Wyrt 'vegetables' + OE leah.
Hazelshaw	No early records available but name is probably derived from OE Haesel 'Hazel' + OE sceaga 'small wood, copse'.
Ecclesfield	Eclesfeld 1086 (DB). 'Open land near a Romano-British Christian church'. Celtic Egles 'church' + OE feld.
Chapeltown	Le Chapel 13th century. 'Hamlet by the chapel'. French Le 'the' + ME chapel.
Wentworth	Wintreuuorde 1086 (DB). 'Wintra's enclosure'. OE pers. name + OE worth.
Thorpe Hesley	Possibly 'outlying farm or settlement where hazel trees grow'. ON Thorp 'outlying farmstead or secondary settlement' + OE haesel 'hazel trees' + OE tun.
Hoyland Nether	Hoiland 1086 (DB), Nether Holand 1390. 'Cultivated land on or near a hill-spur'. OE hoh + OE land. Affix is OE neotherra 'lower'.
Wombwell	Wanbuelle 1086 (DB). 'Wamba's spring or stream'. It is also possible that the name means 'spring or stream in a hollow'. OE pers. name + OE wella 'stream or spring'
Blacker	Blakeker 1199. 'Black marsh'. ON Bla 'black, dark-coloured' + ON kjarr 'marsh overgrown with brush'.
Birdwell	The birdwell 1642. No early records available but it may be named for the old public house 'The Cock Inn'. Note: OE bridd 'bird' + OE wella 'spring or stream'.
Pilley	Pillei 1086 (DB). 'Wood or clearing where stakes are obtained'. OE pil 'stake or pole' + OE leah.
Tankersley	Tancresleia 1086 (DB). 'Thancred's woodland clearing'. OE pers. name + OE leah.
Rockley	Rokkelei 1185. 'Clearing frequented by rooks'. OE Hroc 'rook' + OE leah.
Ouselthwaite	Osilthwayt 1382. 'Blackbird clearing'. OE Osle 'blackbird' + ON thveit 'clearing, meadow or paddock'.
Crane Moor	Possibly 'moor frequented by cranes or herons'. OE Cran 'crane or heron' + OE mor or ON mor 'moor'.
Worsbrough	Wircesburg 1086 (DB). 'Wyrc or Wirc's stronghold'. OE pers. name + OE burh 'fortified place, stronghold'.
Wath on Dearne	Wade 1086 (DB). 'Ford on the R. Dearne'. ON Vath 'ford'. For the River Dearne see below.
Cudworth	Cutheworthe 12th cent. 'Cutha's enclosure'. OE pers. name + OE worth.
Shafton	Sceptun 1086 (DB). 'Farmstead marked by a pole or made of poles'. OE sceaft 'pole' + OE tun.
Hiendley	Hindeleia 1086 (DB). 'Wood or clearing frequented by hinds or does'. OE hind 'hind or doe' + OE leah.
Cumberworth	Cumbreuurde 1086 (DB). 'Cumbra's enclosure' or 'Enclosure of the Britons'. OE pers. name or OE Cumbre 'The Britons' + OE worth.
Darfield	Dereuueld 1086 (DB). 'Open land frequented by deer' or 'Deer park'. OE deor 'deer' + OE feld.
Hemsworth	Hamelesuurde 1086 (DB). 'Hymel's enclosure'. OE pers. name + OE worth.
Cawthorne	Caltorne 1086 (DB). 'Cold (ie exposed) thorn tree'. OE Cald 'cold' + OE thorn or ON thorn 'thorn-tree'.
Denby Dale	Denebi 1086 (DB). 'Farmstead or village of the Danes'.OE Dene 'Danes' + ON by 'farmstead or village' plus the later addition of OE dael or ON dalr 'valley'.
Ingbirchworth	Berceuuorde 1086 (DB). 'Enclosure where birch-trees grow'. OE Birce 'birch-tree' + OE worth, with later addition of ON eng 'meadow'.
River Dove	Probably means 'black or dark river'. Celtic Dubo, 'dark coloured or black'.
River Dearne	Possibly from OE Derne 'hidden' but may be of Celtic origin.
River Don	Celtic dana meaning 'water, river'.

Abbreviations

OE	Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
OS	Old Saxon
ME	Middle English
ON	Old Scandanavian
Pers.name	Personal name
DB	Domesday Book
cent	Century

Sources

a) English Place Name Society, County surveys, West Riding of Yorkshire. Pub. 1961

b) A Dictionary of English Place Names, by AD Mills, Oxford University Press; Pub. 1991.

c) Yorkshire Through Place Names, by RW Morris, David & Charles; Pub. 1982.

d) Place Names in the Landscape,by Margaret Gelling, JM Dent & Sons Ltd; Pub. 1984.

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