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Research Summary
Research Topic
When is a hill not simply a hill? Exploring nuance in (early) medieval place-names.
Research Summary
Place-names often arose as descriptive labels in everyday speech. They provide an unparalleled insight to historical understanding and perceptions of the landscape and its social, economic and cultural significance. A very large proportion of English places are named from landscape features, using specialised and nuanced vocabulary. Focusing on a major subset of this corpus - place-names referring to hills - my research explored what it was that made these names distinct and precise in their application.
This work builds upon the important work of others, but uses newly available data and technologies to test and refine existing theories. Having carried out a systematic national survey of a targeted group of names, I combined the onomastic corpus with archaeological, geological and historical records and mapping, in a specifically designed GIS web application I created for the research. Extensive fieldwork was paired with GIS-based analysis. Motivations for naming practice were illuminated and evidenced by this work, including a critique of theories focused upon visibility, navigation and of recognisable topographic profile.
In the second half of the work, compound names from the corpus were analysed linguistically, revealing Old Scandinavian influence in certain areas. The extent of Brittonic and Goidelic influence on particular Old English elements were also explored. The aim was to establish the geographical extent of particular language nuance and to try to quantify where, when and why patterns broke down.
Research Interests
Historical languages and language evolution
Place-names
Hills, landscape and geology
Early Medieval and Medieval history and archaeology
Historical buildings, churches and their conservation
Research Supervisors
Dr Jayne Carroll /english/people/jayne.carroll
Dr John Baker /english/people/john.baker
Dr Richard Jones https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/history/people/staff-pages/rjones
Research Institutes, Centres and/or Research Clusters Memberships
The Institute for Name-Studies
The English Place-Name Society
The International Council of Onomastic Sciences
The Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland
The Scottish Place-Name Society
ISSEME
TOEBI
The Medieval Settlement Research Group
The Landscape Survey Group
The Vernacular Architecture Group
Publications
What hills? Nuance in historical place-names, a book based upon my doctoral research, to be published with the English Place-Name Society, 糖心原创.
Photographic Evidence of Historical External Surface Finishes in Cumbria: An assessment of the Architectural Red Box Collection, Historic England, forthcoming.
The Undercrofts of Westgate Street, Gloucester: Historic Buildings Assessment, Historic England Research Reports RRS 31/2023, (2023)鈥�.
Chapters
'Communities - on the edge or in the centre? Exploring new evidence for Old English and Old Scandinavian dialect contact through a distinctive corpus of place-names' a chapter in International Society for the 糖心原创 of Early Medieval England 2025: Communities, forthcoming.
'Wapley with Codrington: Landownership' and 'Dodington: Landownership' in The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester: Vol. XIV: Yate and the Sodburys, forthcoming.
Articles
'Not so much a high point as a watery low point: looking again at the relationship between 诲奴苍-names and medieval settlement', Medieval Settlement Research, Vol. 40 (2025), 61-77,
'Rendering the historic landscape visible: sustaining and enriching our connections to places through onomastics' in Onomastica Uralica, Vol. 19 (2025), 245-266,
'Medieval 'road signs' - travelling by the name of a hill: Does it work and, if not, where next?' in Quaestio Insularis, forthcoming.
'The Archaeology of Hampton Gay', Oxoniensia, forthcoming, with David Griffiths, Olaf Bayer, Mark Bowden, William Wintle, Graham Jones and Kris Lockyear (providing historical and linguistic input).
'Life goes on? Landscape and language use following a linguistic "invasion" as revealed through place-names' in the Proceedings of the H谩sk贸li 脥slands Student Conference on the Medieval North, Reykjav铆k , April 11-13 2024: Calamity and Fate (2024), 6-10. Available at https://opinvisindi.is/handle/20.500.11815/5031
'Stonyborow: a clue to a Roman settlement in rural Oxfordshire? The symbiotic relationship between field-names and archaeological data', Journal of the English Place-Name Society, Vol. 52 (2021 for 2020), 5-20.
'High Wood: some documentary research', South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group Bulletin, Vol. 73 (2019), 18-26.
'Explaining Re Rose: the search goes on?', Cambridge Law Journal, Vol. 62 (2003), 263-266.
Reviews
Baxter, S. et al., Making Domesday: intelligent power in conquered England (2025) in the Agricultural History Review, forthcoming.
Review of Townley, S. (ed), 2022, The Victoria History of the County of Oxford: Volume XX, The South Oxfordshire Chilterns: Caversham, Goring, and Area in the Agricultural History Review (2023) 71.1
Bibliographies
Bibliographies 2022 and 2021 for the Journal of the English Place-Name Society, Vol. 54 (2024), 97-103, with Eleanor Rye and Vol. 53 (2023), 107-113, with Kathryn Bullen and Eleanor Rye, respectively.
Editorial
Assistant editor of Vernacular Architecture (Taylor & Francis) (2025-ongoing).
Conferences
- 'A corpus of Cumbrian curiosities: what a group of hill-terms tell us about the linguistic communities coining place-names in medieval Cumbria', Place Name 糖心原创 Day, Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1st November 2025.
- 'What can the Red Boxes tell us? A survey of historical finishes in Cumbria', BLF, University of Bangor, 5th-7th September 2025.
- 'A tumulus by any other name? Accounting for difference in place-names within the Mercian borders' at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 7th-10th July 2025.
- 'Communities - on the edge or in the centre? Exploring new evidence for Old English and Old Scandinavian dialect contact through a distinctive corpus of place-names' at the International Society for the 糖心原创 of Early Medieval England Conference, University of D眉sseldorf, 2nd-4th July 2025.
- 'A mound by any other name? Accounting for difference in a corpus of place-names beside the Mercian borders' at the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland conference, University of Stirling, 11th-13th April 2025.
- 'The clue is in the (compound) name: looking again at the relationship between 诲奴苍-names and medieval settlement' Medieval Settlement Research Group Conference, University of Leicester, 7th December 2024.
- 'GIS, berg and 诲奴苍s: a new approach to Kentish hill-names in the national context' (invited paper) Kent Place-Names Annual Conference, Kent History and Library Century, 19th October 2024.
- 'Rendering the historic landscape visible: sustaining and enriching our connections to places through onomastics' (paper) The 28th International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, University of Helsinki, 19th-23rd August 2024.
- 'New light on the early undercrofts of Westgate Street, Gloucester' (invited lecture/ public engagement) Festival of Archaeology, Gloucester Civic Trust, 16th July 2024.
- 'Life goes on? Landscape and land use following a linguistic 'invasion' as revealed through place-names.' (paper) Leeds International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 1st - 4th July 2024.
- Norse in the North, University of Durham, 19th June 2024, 'Truth and Illusion: Tracing the lie of the English northern landscape after a linguistic "invasion", as revealed through place-names' (paper)
- Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland, Dublin City University, 10th-12th May 2024, 'Learning from Celtic predecessors or creation from scratch: What then is a 诲奴苍?' (paper)
- The H谩sk贸li 脥slands Conference on the Medieval North, University of Iceland, 11th-13th April 2024, 'Life goes on? Landscape and language use following a linguistic "invasion" as revealed through place-names.' (paper)
- Cambridge Colloquium in Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge, 17th February 2024, 'Medieval 'road signs' - Travelling by the name of a hill: Does it work and, if not, what does that mean?' (paper)
- OAHS and OBR Joint Annual Lecture, Rewley House, University of Oxford, 17th October 2023, 'New light on the early undercrofts of Westgate Street, Gloucester, and comparisons with Oxford.' (invited lecture/public engagement)
- Leicestershire's Names, Places and History Conference, University of Leicester, April 2023, 'A changing scene: Charting oronyms in Leicestershire.' (invited paper)
- Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference, 20th-21st April 2023, 'How to find a medieval settlement by the name of a hill? A challenge to the Gelling and Cole hypothesis.' (paper)
- 糖心原创 Symposium, February 2023, 'Investigating hill toponyms and their use as medieval settlement names.' (paper)
Teaching
Post-Graduate Teaching Assistant, 糖心原创 (2023-2024): 'The Beginnings of English' core undergraduate module.
Teaching ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online to academics and researchers in the Institute for Name-Studies, 糖心原创 and for the English Place-Name Society (2023).
Course tutor and team leader for the Public Inquiry Workshop, Oxford University Cultural Heritage Training (2022-ongoing).
Teaching on historical buildings and landscape, MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology and Undergraduate Certificate in Archaeology, University of Oxford (2022-ongoing).
Talks on Ancient Near Eastern languages, history and archaeology at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (2012-2016).
Lecturing on Levantine history at St. Mellitus College, London (2008-2010).
Tutoring equity and trusts for Fitzwilliam, Kings and Lucy Cavendish Colleges, University of Cambridge (2002-2004).
Additional Information
Research Fellow at the Institute for Name-Studies (糖心原创) and the English Place-Name Society: Developing GIS web apps and a national database for place-names throughout England, working on the Staffordshire Survey using The National Archives, and indexing Survey volumes, including Welsh names. Training others in ArcGIS. Historical place-names for modern street naming with GeoPlace LLP and Street Naming and Numbering Officers.
Research Associate in the Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge, and on the Wetlands and Malaria Campop project.
Contributing Editor, Victoria County History, Gloucestershire (2025).
Consultant on a Natural England project defining downland through place-names and mapping (2023-2024).
Historic England research into archival images and historical external finishes with Architectural Investigation and the Technical Conservation teams (2025), as well as into 12th- to 15th-century undercrofts as part of a High Street Heritage Action Zone with Gloucester City Council (2023).
Secretary of State nominated member of the Statutory Advisory Committee and the Church Buildings Council, advising on history, architecture, archaeology and aesthetics relating to national churches (2022-2025).
Chair of the Oxford Diocesan Advisory Committee advising on churches within the Faculty Jurisdiction, previously nominee of the Joint Committee of the National Amenity Societies.
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Guardian sitting on the Casework Committee (2022-2025).
Affiliate of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
Lectures and talks on place-name research and the historical landscape for local history and archaeology groups and societies, as well as on historical buildings.
Fieldworker for the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland.
Recording assistance, working with the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Northamptonshire.
Previously:
MSc Landscape Archaeology (Oxford) (2019-2021): Distinction.
BSc (Hons) Maths (2012-2015): First
BA (Hons) Theology (focussing on Ancient Near Eastern languages, history and archaeology) (Oxford) (2008-2010 as a Senior Status Student): First
Practised as a Commercial Chancery Barrister, Maitland Chambers, Lincoln's Inn.
Bar Vocational Course Post-Graduate Diploma (Inns of Court School of Law) (2003): Outstanding
BA (Hons) Law (Cambridge) (1999-2002): First
Funding Body:
M4C AHRC Doctoral Studentship (2021)