Kent Place-Names Conference 19 October 2024

It is hard to believe that it had been six years since the last ‘Biennial’ Kent Place-Names Conference held in November 2018. Covid had managed to eliminate 2020 and 2022’s appearances and lack of take-up for 2023 meant postponement until 2024. However, by combining management of the conference with Kent Archives and holding the event at KHLC, ticket sales were quickly snapped up and a full house was achieved.

Over the years, KPN conferences, whilst concentrating on place-names, have always included presentations on a wide range of names from surnames to even nick-names of football teams and this year’s conference was no different.

The following paragraphs will, by necessity, provide a very brief outline of the conference sessions but more detailed summaries can be found on kentarchaeology.org.uk/groups/ place-names-research-group

The morning session related to specific places with Paul Cullen opening with a paper on the Place-Names of Maidstone. Paul stressed the importance of tracing the place name back to the original language in which it was created. For many local names the first mention was relatively late, such as Chillington Manor (1535). Other Maidstone names, happily, boast fuller runs of spellings, stretching from the end of the Anglo-Saxon period into the modern, including Fant (OE fyrnp ‘ferny place’). For Maidstone itself there are plenty of references dating from c975.

Among these, it is thought the name could derive from Old English mægp, mægden, ‘maiden, girl’ together with the element stone which is connected with early religious sites.

John Death followed with Nettles, Gaps and Stumps: an Anglo-Saxon Estate in Meopham. In 939 King Aethelsan granted an estate to his minister Eadwulf, the bounds of which were delineated in Old English by charter. The existence of this charter has led to previous scholars, including Wallenberg, to attempt to identify the location. However, it was thought that the scale was wrong as the modern parish boundaries of Meopham had been used as a basis. Using the relatively clear directions of the charter, John had walked the bounds and using photographic images, presented his findings to the conference.

[fg]jpg|Fig 1. 1567 silver seal of the Corporation of Maidstone.|Image[/fg]

[fg]jpg|Fig 2. An Anglo-Saxon Estate in Meopham. Ridgeway and Seat. Courtesy of John Death.|Image[/fg]

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Early maps are always a good source for place-name study and moving on from 21st century technology to that of a much earlier period.

[fg]jpg|Fig 3. GIS, bergs and duns. Courtesy of Abigail Lloyd.|Image[/fg]

The morning session closed with James Lloyd taking the conference on a tour of the lathe of Scray in order to find the Devil in the English Countryside. Earlier known as the Sherwenhope lathe it is situated around Chilham. The site of the isle of shrew is no longer extant but the question remains, where is the supposed site of the shrew or the place with supernatural associations. Dismissing certain locations too far from Chilham, James settled on the possibility of Julliberrie’s Grave, a name developed from the barrow of Cilla or Cille from which Chilham is derived. However, sadly, there is no supporting evidence.

The afternoon started with Abigail Lloyd’s - GIS, bergs and dūns: A new approach to Kentish hill-names in the national context. This was a very visual and interactive presentation using GIS information plotted on maps, photographic evidence, and LiDAR survey. The three names for hills covered in the talk were berg (1,243 names), dūn (1,741 names) and crug (48 names). In Kent, many of the names discussed were dūn-names. The importance of fieldwork to understand what motivated historic [pg29]naming was stressed. A new, powerful, research tool has been created for this study, which can be taken on site visits using a smart phone. This enables multiple digital datasets to be cross referenced on the ground alongside physical examination of the evidence. Abigail recommended the possibilities of GIS for name research in Kent.

Early maps are always a good source for place-name study and moving on from 21st century technology to that of a much earlier period, Linda Taylor presented her thoughts on the reasons behind Philip Symonson’s 1596, A New Description of Kent. To this end, the presentation examined Symonson’s map in the context of (1) the cartographer, (2) the context of other maps, and (3) the context of society at that time. Symonson’s earlier work as a producer of estate maps for Rochester Bridge Wardens was covered as was comparison of the Kent map to other contemporary cartographers where Symonson’s work was seen to be superior and on a larger scale affording more detail. It was concluded that the reason for the map was probably political and was possibly produced due to Symonson’s connection with William Lambarde for the strategic and taxation purposes of Lord Burghley.

After a short break the afternoon concluded with two talks on surnames. Nigel Price’s subject was Huguenot Surnames in Canterbury and first described the genesis of his work based on Holvenden (1889) “The Register of the Walloon or Strangers Church of Canterbury” published by the Huguenot Society of London. This contains transcriptions of the records of Births, Marriages and Deaths for the Huguenot community in Canterbury during the late 16th and the 17th centuries. A list of the most commonly occurring surnames in these records was presented. This was compared to a similar list for the Hautes de France Region of France (from where it is considered most Huguenot refugees derived) for the 17th century. There was no significant similarity between the two lists and suggestions for this were possibly due to changes in orthography between Huguenot surnames in Canterbury and 17th century Hautes de France. Also, differences could be ascribed to “linguistic assimilation” occurring in Canterbury whilst others would need further investigation, preferably in French Protestant Church records.

For his second presentation at the conference, entitled Some Tricky Kent Surnames, Paul Cullen addressed the possible origins and distributions of some previously submitted “surname requests”. Eleven names, seven of which had variant spellings, were considered, twenty- one names in total. Using the “British 19th Century Surnames Atlas” by Archer Software (based on the 1881 census) eleven of the surnames (and their variants) studied were shown to have over 75% of their national occurrence in Kent (and over 50% for a further four). Regarding the possible origins of the submitted surnames and based on the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (2016) five of the eleven names would seem to derive from Middle English nicknames with three more being locatives (two of which are unidentified). Paul also demonstrated that the surname Picknell, originating in Sussex, derives not from Picknill Green in Bexhill in East Sussex (the standard explanation) but from Parkminster in Cowfold, West Sussex.

The conference was well received with evaluation returns showing very positive feedback. The Kent Place Names Group is looking for new members and any interested person should contact Linda Taylor, Secretary KPN Group. lin.taylor@kentarchaeology.org.uk

[fg]jpg|Fig 4. Instances of the surname Hogben in the UK. Courtesy of Paul Cullen.|Image[/fg]

Maps created using Steve Archer’s Surname Atlas. archersoftware.co.uk