Why do town names end in Dale?

A place name ending in “dale” is probably some sort of valley. Here in the US, many places are named for some place in England, and the original geographical association may be lost. But the original town in England was almost certainly in a valley.

WHAT IS A Dale in UK?

A dale is an open valley. Dale is a synonym of the word valley. The name is used when describing the physical geography of an area. It is used most frequently in the Lowlands of Scotland and in the North of England; the term “fell” commonly refers to the mountains or hills that flank the dale.

Why do English towns end in by?

A popular (and fairly obvious) theory links the name to deer — a settlement important for deer hunting — but no one is sure. The -by, incidentally, is a common ending for towns inhabited by the Vikings during the Danelaw settlement.

Why do English towns end in Bury?

That’s because the suffix “-bury” derives from the Anglo-Saxon “burh,” meaning “a fort or fortified place.” So when you drive along I-84 from Waterbury to Danbury, passing Middlebury and Southbury along the way, you’re traveling a well-fortified route.

What is the difference between a vale and a dale?

is that dale is (uk) a valley in an otherwise hilly area while vale is (mostly|poetic) valley.

Why do so many towns end in Ford?

A town with the -ford suffix was where a river was broad and shallow so that people could cross. The word village and the suffix -ville comes to English from the French. It comes from a Latin word that means farmstead.

What does dale name mean?

valley
English: from Middle English dale ‘dale’, ‘valley’ (Old English dæl, reinforced in northern England by the cognate Old Norse dalr), a topographic name for someone who lived in a valley, or a habitational name from any of the numerous minor places named with this word, such as Dale in Cumbria and Yorkshire.

Is a dell a dale?

In physical geography, a dell is a small secluded hollow, (implying also) grassy, park-like, usually partially-wooded valley. The word “dell” comes from the Old English word dell, which is related to the Old English word dæl, modern ‘dale’.

Why are places called Piccadilly?

The place name derives from a piccadill, an ornate lace collar fashionable in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Where you see the name, you can assume that either that place was where lace-makers plied their trade, or that town fathers wanted to evoke the booming prosperity of London.

What is a Dale in geography?

Dale (place name element) A dale is a valley. It was commonly used in northern England and Scotland to denote an open valley as a dale, contrasted with a gill or narrow valley.

What are the top 10 Dales in England?

England 1 Ainsdale, England 2 Airedale, England 3 Allendale, England 4 Birkdale, England 5 Darley Dale, England 6 Denby Dale, England 7 Derbyshire Dales, England 8 Eskdale, England 9 Glossopdale, England 10 Lathkill Dale, England

What is the origin of the name of a place?

Many places are named after nearby land features such as hills and valleys: Usually found at the end of a place name, “berg” means hill or mountain, and is derived from Germanic origins. It can be seen in the place names Falkenberg and also in Bergen, the second largest city in Norway.

Where do England’s rivers get their names?

So do about two-thirds of England’s rivers: Avon, Derwent, Severn, Tees, Trent, Tyne – and Itchen, which later lent its name to the town Bishop’s Itchington. (Some of these names may even have come from the people who were here before the Celts).