Understanding common place name elements helps a lot with reconstructing the history of places in the UK. As per [0], -ham, -ing, -ton, are old English, -by, -t

Understanding common place name elements helps a lot with reconstructing the history of places in the UK. As per [0], -ham, -ing, -ton, are old English, -by, -thorpe and others are Norse/Vikings. We've also had hundreds of years for the original names to change in spelling and pronunciation. Especially the French-derived ones. I have to say that one of the small joys of doing geography A-level in England was finding the silly names on the detailed Ordnance Survey maps. There was always one or two that enlivened the dullest lessons on geomorphology, road networks, etc. I still find a lot of humour in these placenames. Exhibit A: Piddletrenthide [1] is one close to me, quite close to Tolpuddle. It's my belief from local knowledge that Piddletrenthide is pronounced with two hard 't's, i.e. Piddle - Trent - Hide. Perhaps if there are HN'ers from Piddletrenthide here, they can correct me. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toponymy_of_England#English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toponymy_of_England#English [1] https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/piddletrenthide-and-piddlehinton-p1124303 https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/piddletrenthide-and-pid...