Over the course of the WDYTYA exhibition we were asked by many people if we could track down ‘missing’ places in Great Britain.

The problem of old place names, spelling, pronunciation and meaning occurs in all counties of Great Britain.

• Place name evidence itself can be complex, the names themselves giving clues to the landscape as it was long ago. Family historians are of course interested in surnames that have as their root a locational meaning.
• The problem is that it is not an exact science, place names have changed as the spoken language has evolved and altered over time, so we need to be a little imaginative when we see a place name in it’s current form but can’t seem to map it.
• The main source of old place names is in old documents. Often when place names are listed they are also dated by the age of the document. An obvious place to start is with Doomsday, which is undoubtedly the single most important early record of place names. It does however contain inaccuracies and so should be treated as cautiously as any other resource. You can search the Doomsday by typing in the name of the place you are interested in.

What happens when a name just simply vanishes?

Some names died away as places became de-populated maybe by disease or as jobs collapsed. Some were overrun by the spread of larger settlements.

A careful study of old maps may bring joy but if the settlement was very small to begin with it is not likely to have been included in very old maps.

So seek out those old documents in the county archives and if anyone can guide us to Tollingland in Devon we would be very grateful!

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