The Popular Series (including county dictionaries)
A Dictionary of County Durham Place-Names
by Victor Watts, with contributions by John Insley (2002).
A concise dictionary covering the main settlement names of County Durham, this book combines detailed commentary on the names with a unique knowledge of the setting, languages and history which gave rise to them. There is an index of elements used in the names, and a list of manorial names and surnames in the county's toponymy.
172 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 978 0 904889 65 3.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
A Dictionary of Leicestershire and Rutland Place-Names
by Barrie Cox (2005).
This book is a guide to the place-names of Leicestershire and Rutland from the earliest times to the twentieth century. It is based on many years' research into the place-names and combines detailed and authoritative commentary on the names with a unique knowledge of the setting, languages and history which gave rise to them. It will prove absorbing reading and an important resource for anyone interested in the past of the counties and the origins of their names.
Barrie Cox is editor of the EPNS surveys of Leicestershire (8 vols) and Rutland.
Popular Series volume 5.
160 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 978 0 904889 70 X.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
A Dictionary of Lincolnshire Place-Names
by Kenneth Cameron, with contributions by John Insley (1998).
This book is a guide to the major names of the whole county of Lincolnshire. Professor Cameron's work makes available the fruit of thirty-five years' research into Lincolnshire place-names, and combines detailed and authoritative commentary on the names with a unique knowledge of the setting, language and history which gave rise to them.
157 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 978 0 904 889 58 0. Published 1998.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
A Dictionary of Manx Place-Names
by George Broderick (2006).
A comprehensive brief dictionary of the names of the Isle of Man, this book analyses the Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Norse and English elements which enter into the toponymy. Dr Broderick's work includes maps and illustrations in addition to scholarly analysis, name-by-name, of farms, settlements, roads, hills, coastal features, parishes and treens. An index of elements, personal and surnames, and a historical introduction complete the work.
Paperback. ISBN 0 904889 71 8.
Price: £8.99 to members, £10.99 to non-members.
A Dictionary of Suffolk Place-Names
by Keith Briggs and Kelly Kilpatrick (2016).
This book gives concise explanations of the origin, meaning, and development of Suffolk's hundreds, parishes, towns, villages and hamlets, as well as rivers and other topographical features. It is illustrated by modern colour photographs and historical records.
177 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 978 0 904889 91 2. Published by the Suffolk Institute for Archaeology and History in association with the EPNS.
Price: £8.99 to members, £10.99 to non-members.
Wirral and its Viking Heritage
by Paul Cavill, Stephen E. Harding and Judith Jesch (2000).
This book sets out the evidence scholars have used to piece together the history of the Wirral Viking colony in the tenth century, and shows how they explain its origins and describe its characteristics. This book is a guide to the Viking impact on the Wirral. It includes reprinted illustrated essays from F. T. Wainwright, John McN. Dodgson, J. D. Bu'lock and W. G. Collingwood, on the history, art and names of the region. The work is brought into the twenty-first century by original contributions on developments in the history, archaeology, scholarly and popular interest in the Wirral. It is completed by a gazetteer examining the origins of the major place-names, which also forms an index to the volume. Features original contributions from Simon C. Bean and Andrew Wawn.
149 pp. Paperback. ISBN 978 0 904889 59 9.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
About the series
This series is a new kind of book from the English Place-Name Society. It deals with the main place-names found on modern maps of some of England's largest towns and cities, and also includes some lost or forgotten older names which were once locally important. The books are arranged alphabetically, with explanations of the origins of names presented wherever possible, and the documentary evidence permitting these explanations is set out.
Bristol
by Richard Coates (2017).
This book covers the principal districts (officially or unofficially recognized), a few striking monuments and the largest open spaces in the City of Bristol and the rest of the Bristol conurbation. It also includes a fringe of the country beyond, from Severn Beach and Weston in Gordano to the west to Chipping Sodbury and Saltford in the east, and from Yate in the north to Stanton Drew and Bristol Airport in the south.
Your City’s Place-Names volume 1.
ISBN: 978 0 904889 96 3
219 pp. Paperback 240 x 155 mm.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
Brighton and Hove, with Shoreham and Newhaven
by Richard Coates (2017).
This book covers the principal districts (officially or unofficially recognized), some striking monuments and the largest open spaces of the City of Brighton and Hove and the rest of the coastal Brighton conurbation. A few other names outside of but very close to the city boundary, and important to the city or conurbation, are included.
Your City’s Place-Names volume 2.
ISBN: 978 0 904889 97 0
118 pp. Paperback 240 x 155 mm.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
Leeds
by Harry Parkin (2017).
This book covers the principal districts (officially or unofficially recognized), some well-known buildings, features, and street-names, and the largest open spaces in the City of Leeds. For the purposes of this dictionary, the “City of Leeds” is defined by the Leeds metropolitan district area, though a few names outside but very close to this zone are also included. The metropolitan area of Leeds is one of the largest government districts in England, and so this dictionary covers a relatively large area, including places such as Wetherby, which is approximately 10 miles north-east of Leeds city centre.
Your City’s Place-Names volume 3.
ISBN: 978 0 904889 95 6
122 pp. Paperback 240 x 155 mm.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
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Cambridge
by Richard Coates (2019)
This book covers the principal districts (officially or unofficially recognised), a few striking monuments and the largest open spaces in the City of Cambridge. It also includes a fringe of the country beyond, from Hardwick and Comberton in the est to Fulbourn and Bottisham in the east, and from Cottenham in the north to Harston and the Shelfords in the south. This are might be thought of as an inner dormitory belt, though of course the commuter zone in the 21st century is far wider than this. The present book therefore reflects a rather subjective entity from the perspective of a former inhabitant. Cambridge is a very untypical English city, but being legally a city it undoubtedly quaiifies for this series.
Your City's Place-Name volume 4.
ISBN: 978 1 911640 00 4
128 pp. Paperback 234 x 156 mm.
Price: £7.50 to members, £8.99 to non-members.
A Dictionary of Lake District Place‑Names
by Diana Whaley (2006).
Professor Whaley’s dictionary breaks new ground in treating the names of an area beyond the traditional county boundaries. This work includes names treated in Survey volumes on Cumberland and Westmorland, as well as Ekwall’s volume on Lancashire, but it includes many names that are not touched upon by earlier scholars. Written to be accessible and comprehensive, this is an attractive illustrated volume which defies easy categorisation: it is an essential companion for the walker and tourist, but scholars and local historians will find it invaluable too. Professor Whaley has provided detailed analysis of the names not only from documentary sources but also from contacting local people. The index of elements is a significant contribution to study of the name-vocabulary of north-west England.
Regional Series volume 1.
ISBN: 0 904889 72 6
lviii + 423 pp., maps, photos. Hardback 240 x 155 mm.
Price: £15.99 to members; £19.99 to non-members.
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A Place‑Name History of the Parishes of Rottingdean and Ovingdean in Sussex
by Richard Coates (2010).
This book discusses over 800 local names in historic Rottingdean (including Woodingdean, Roedean and Saltdean) and Ovingdean. The treatment of Rottingdean is the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of the place‑names of a single village ever published in Britain.
Regional Series volume 2.
ISBN 10: 0 904889 84 X - ISBN 13: 978 0 904889 84 0
240 pp., numerous illustrations. Paperback 235 x 155 mm.
Price: £3.99 to members; £4.99 to non-members.
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The EPNS Supplementary Series
An Index to Personal Names in English Place-Names
by Keith Briggs (2021, rev. edn 2023).
The index is a finding aid for locating personal names in books about English place-names, primarily those published by the EPNS.
Supplementary Series volume 2.
300 pp. 235 x 155 mm. ISBN: 978 1 911 640 04 2
The 2021 print edition is currently unavailable, but a 2nd rev. edn (3 Jan 2023) is available on our free download page.
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The Place‑Names of West Thorney [West Sussex]
by Richard Coates (1999).
This volume has two aims. The first is to begin to make good the sparse treatment of minor names in the English Place‑Name Survey in the early years of its existence. The second is to contribute to an understanding of the processes of naming in self-contained places. It is a study of a place that historical writing has largely ignored, and whose tenurial and agricultural development was steady, and barely touched by power politics.
ISBN: 0 904889 52 1
v + 66 pp. Paperback 250 x 175 mm.
Price: £3.99 to members; £4.99 to non-members.
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A New Dictionary of English Field-Names
by Paul Cavill, with an introduction by Rebecca Gregory (2018).
This is a major new dictionary of field-names drawing on the collections of the English Place-Name Survey and the pioneering work of John Field, and on scholarly work in field-nomenclature of the last twenty years. With some 45,000 field-name attestations and nearly 2,500 headwords, it is the most comprehensive work on English field-names available.
Names are given in standard and variant forms, and dated early spellings where possible. The meanings of the names are briefly discussed with a range of information relating to naming practices, land-use, shape and size, flora and fauna, history and archaeology, etc.
The book has an accessible introduction by Rebecca Gregory, a user guide, and a list of linguistic elements appearing in field-names.
Field-name Studies volume 4.
ISBN: Hardback 978 0 904889 98 X; Paperback 978 0 904889 99 8
570 pp. 240 x 160 mm.
Hardback price: £19.99 to members, £24.99 to non-members.
Paperback price: £15.99 to members, £19.99 to non-members.
Field-Names of the London Borough of Ealing
by C. H. Keene (1976).
Currently unavailable.
This booklet provides a study of the field-names in the parishes of Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale, Southall, and West Twyford—an area covered in summary form in Vol. XVIII of the Survey. Fields in each parish are listed with etymological comments, and an Introduction provides background information on this part of Middlesex.
Field-name Studies no. 1.
ISBN: 0 904889 03 3
vi + x + 37 pp. Maps. A5 Paperback.
Price £1.50
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Field-Names of Angmering, Ferring, Rustington, East Preston, and Kingston (West Sussex)
by Richard W. Standing (1984).
Currently unavailable.
These parishes, on the Sussex coast near Littlehampton, form part of Poling Hundred (for which see Vol. VI of the Survey). The topographical history of the area is summarised in the Introduction. Field-names from the various Tithe Apportionments are shown on full-page maps throughout, with etymological and other notes. An Appendix contains useful observations on local or customary acres.
Field-name Studies no. 2.
ISBN: 0 904889 12 2
iv + 50 pp. (including Maps). A5 Paperback.
Price £1.50.
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Field-Names of Four Bedfordshire Parishes: Tilsworth, Eggington, Hockliffe, Stanbridge
by Joan Schneider (1997).
An account, by an experienced Bedfordshire local historian, of the field-names of a compact group of parishes in Manshead Hundred, Bedfordshire, based on local records and fully illustrated by maps.
Field-name Studies no. 3.
ISBN: 0 904889 51 3
92 pp. 15 maps. Paperback 250 x 175 mm.
Price: EPNS members £3.99; non-members £4.99.
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The Vocabulary of English Place‑Names
This is a major new dictionary of the elements in English place‑names, edited by the research staff of the CENS/INS. It succeeds A. H. Smith’s English Place‑Name Elements (EPNS Vols. XXV, XXVI), differing from it in various ways. The range is greater: selection will not now be limited to major place-names, and elements in names first recorded before 1750 (rather than before 1500) will be included. There is a much larger body of publications to draw from, including no fewer than forty more EPNS volumes than were available to Smith, together with the great quantity of research material which has appeared during the intervening years in relevant books and journals.
More information about the series, and a draft version of the latest research, is available on the project page.
Price per fascicle: £7.50 to EPNS members; £8.99 to non-members.
Fasc. 1, Á–Box, by David Parsons and Tania Styles, with Carole Hough (1997).
ISBN: 0 9525343 5 5
Originally published by CENS (Centre for English Name‑Studies)
xix + 155 pp. Paperback, 206 x 145 mm.
Fasc. 2, Brace–Cæster, by David Parsons and Tania Styles (2000).
ISBN: 0 9525343 6 3
Originally published by CENS (Centre for English Name‑Studies)
xviii + 177 pp. Paperback, 206 x 145 mm.
Fasc. 3, Ceafor–Cock-pit, by David N. Parsons (2004).
ISBN: 0 904889 74 2
xx + 164 pp. Paperback, 215 x 137mm.
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English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse
by Matthew Townend (1998).
As a result of persistent contact between Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians in the Viking Age, Old Norse skaldic poetry contains a large number of English place-names, cited in celebration of the feats of such figures as Cnut and Oláfr Haraldsson. Matthew Townend’s study is based on a thorough investigation of the manuscript sources and presents a strong case for the use and importance of skaldic evidence.
ISBN: 0 904889 57 2
ix + 115 pp. Paperback 206 x 145 mm.
Price: £3.99 to members; £4.99 to non-members.
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Anglo-Saxon Mint-Names, Part 1: Axbridge-Hythe
By Jayne Carroll and David N. Parsons (2007).
The first part of a three-part series, this book examines the evidence provided by Anglo-Saxon coins for the spelling of place‑names, specifically of minting-places. Coins are often closely datable, and many provide pre-datings of names found in documentary sources. Some supplement evidence we already have and confirm etymologies, but some suggesting intriguing alternatives. This work breaks new ground in examining one extensive but challenging corpus of evidence for English place‑names.
ISBN: 978 0 904889 75 8
xxvi + 198pp. Hardback 240 x 160 mm.
Price: £8.99 to members; £10.99 to non-members.
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Language Contact in the Place-Names of Britain and Ireland
Edited by Paul Cavill and George Broderick (2007).
This book is a collection of essays examining how languages interact at points of contact, and the evidence that place-names provide for that interaction. Leading scholars reflect on the names of the Isle of Man, finding Scandinavian and English influence; on names in England, for Celtic and Scandinavian contacts with English; on names in Ireland, tracing the very earliest pre-Celtic and Celtic strands; and on Orkney and Shetland, examining the processes of contact, language death and revival.
Contributors: George Broderick, Paul Cavill, Richard Coates, Richard Cox, Gillian Fellows-Jensen, W.F.H. Nicolaisen, Berit Sandness, Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel, Doreen Waugh.
ISBN: 978 0 904889 78 9
ix + 183 pp. Hardback 240 x 160 mm.
Price: £8.99 to members; £10.99 to non-members.
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The Church in English Place-Names
Edited by Eleanor Quinton (2009).
This collection of essays makes a valuable contribution to the study of the history and onomastic signature of place bearing church or church-related names, including two contributions on Eccles. It begins with a welcome reprint of Margaret Gelling’s 1981 essay, ‘The word church in English place-names’, which has been hard to obtain.
ISBN: 978 0 904889 796
150pp. Paperback 210 x 124 mm.
Price: £3.99 to members; £4.99 to non-members.
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English Inn and Tavern Names
by Barrie Cox.
Published 1994.
This monograph, the first scholarly work on the topic, traces the developments in the naming of inns and taverns in all parts of the country from the fourteenth century to the present day. It is based on the publications and files of the English Place‑Name Society, augmented by material in the possession of the author. An extensive collection of the names of Rutland hostelries provides an interesting separate study, and the many inn-names recorded by Pepys in the 1660s are discussed in an Appendix.
ISBN: 0 9525343 0 4
Originally published by CENS (Centre for English Name‑Studies)
116 pp. Paperback, 206 x 145 mm.
Price: £3.99 to members; £4.99 to non-members.
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The English Place‑Name Survey: A Finding-List to Addenda and Corrigenda
by Carole Hough (1995).
This handbook provides a systematic index to addenda and corrigenda to the county volumes of the Survey of English Place‑Names (published in subsequent EPNS volumes and in the Journal of the English Place‑Name Society). The need for such a guide has been long felt, and it will prove to be invaluable.
ISBN: 0 9525343 1 2
Originally published by CENS (Centre for English Name‑Studies)
125 pp. Paperback, 206 x 145 mm.
Price: £3.99 to members; £4.99 to non-members.
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Indexes to the Journal of the English Place‑Name Society, Nos. 1–12
Currently unavailable.
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Indexes to the Journal of the English Place‑Name Society, Nos. 13–26
Currently unavailable.
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