Overview

Place-Names of Montgomeryshire examines 900 place-names in the historic county of Montgomery (1536-1974) together with the southernmost part of Denbighshire that was transferred to Powys from Clwyd in 1996. Place-names tell us a lot about how our ancestors lived, their languages and dialects, and how they thought about the world around them but great care must be taken to gather as much written and spoken evidence as possible before attempting to interpret those names. Richard Morgan's masterful study not only reveals many fascinating explanations of Montgomeryshire's place-names but also resolves numerous false interpretations: Montgomery, which gave its name to a Norman castle, town and the former county, is actually a French name transferred from Normandy. To Welsh-speakers it is Trefaldwyn or 'Baldwin's town' and this in turn has given us the Welsh language county name of Maldwyn. Drenewydd and Newtown both mean 'new town' in reference to its status when the settlement was established at the end of the thirteenth century, not in 1968 when it was declared a new town under the New Towns Act 1965. Guilsfield has no connection with anyone by the name Giles but is likely to refer to the golden flowers of a genus of hemlock which gave us its Welsh name Cegidfa ('place of hemlock'). Meifod is a house or settlement located in the middle of a valley floor (Welsh mei- and bod) not one occupied in May (Welsh Mai). Based on the author's own extensive research in local and national archives and reference libraries, and comprehensively arranged under 855 separate entries according to their standard Welsh form with cross-references from any English forms, the place-names are then linked to a glossary of over 1,000 common elements and personal names. This impressive volume also contains a bibliography and guide to the international phonetic alphabet.

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Morgan
Publisher:   Welsh Academic Press
Imprint:   Welsh Academic Press
Dimensions:   Width: 17.00cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 24.40cm
ISBN:  

9781860571725

ISBN 10:   1860571727
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   23 October 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements List of illustrations Preface  Introduction    Montgomeryshire Place-Names: study and survey    Montgomeryshire Place-Names: research and analysis    Map 1: Medieval Montgomeryshire    Map 2: Area transferred from Clwyd to Powys in 1996    Map 3: English influence before 1500    Selection of names    Editorial method Guide to the International Phonetic Alphabet Abbreviations and Bibliography Online Databases and Reference Resources Glossary of Place-Name Elements    Personal Names and River-Names    Common place-name elements    List of personal Names and surnames    List of river-names A Aberangell to Aston B Bachaethlon to Bwlch y Garreg C Cablyd to Cyrniau Nod D Darowen to Dylife E Edderton to Eunant F Fach-wen to Fron G Gaer to Gyrn Moelfre H Hafesb to Hyssington I Iaen to Iwrch K Kerry to Kingswood L Leighton to Long Mountain M Machynlleth to Mynydd yr Hendre N Nadroedd to Noddfa O Ochr Henfache to Over Gorddwr P Pandy to Pyllau Mawn R Refail to Rhysnant S Sarn to Sylfaen T Tafolog to Tyn-y-rhos U Ucheldre to Uwchygarreg W Waun-fach to Wye Y Ysbyty to Ystumgynon List of Subscribers

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Author Information

Richard Morgan is a former archivist at Powys Archives and Glamorgan Archives. He is author of Place-Names of Glamorgan (Welsh Academic Press 2019) and Place-Names of Carmarthenshire (Welsh Academic Press 2022) and co-authored the Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales with Professor Hywel Wyn Owen in 2007.

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