Places that have changed names

[telstarbox]

Are there any places in the UK where a modern name has replaced the original name for a settlement?

For the purposes of the question this doesn't include Old English / Middle English names which have evolved to the present one.

 

[Gloster]

Other than those where there was an addition of words, often for pretentious reasons, such as Blandford Forum, Bognor Regis, or Staines-upon-Thames, I can only think of Piddletown that became Puddletown.

 

[Railsigns]

From Wikipedia: List of city name changes

 

[lyndhurst25]

Cantril Farm, an area of Merseyside that got a bad reputation, renamed to Stockbridge Village.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

'Windscale' in Cumbria (where the nuclear site is) was renamed back to 'Sellafield' in the early 1980s. Think it had originally been known as 'Sellafield' before 1947.

 

[Basil Jet]

Camberley was known as Cambridge but was changed for obvious reasons.

 

[Basil Jet]

Richmond (Surrey) was known as Sheen, but got renamed when it became the London home of the Duke/Earl/Something of Richmond (Yorks). Richmond (Yorks) had previously had a different name before it was renamed after Richemonde in France for similar reasons. Strangely, East Sheen and North Sheen kept their names when Sheen changed.

 

[lyndhurst25]

Brigg, which I believe today had its first passenger train in more than a year call, was originally called Glanford. Then Glanford Bridge. Then Glanford Brigg. And finally just Brigg.

 

[Revilo]

Wootton Bassett had ‘Royal’ added to it, in recognition of its military service.

 

[birchesgreen]

Yes a few places have had the Royal prefix, some also have had the Spa suffix usually for Victorian tourism reasons, Leamington has been rewarded with both.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Cantril Farm, an area of Merseyside that got a bad reputation, renamed to Stockbridge Village.

Similarly Brackenhall in Huddersfield had a (at least partially deserved) reputation for being rough. When a large portion of the postwar housing stock was demolished and replaced in the early 2000s, estate agents rebranded the area as Ferndale.

 

[Bevan Price]

Newton Le Willows was previously known as Newton In Makerfield.

and Southport was built on almost empty space that was once part of North Meols.

 

[duncanp]

Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester, which translates as "...fortification of Camulos...."

The English name Colchester has evolved from the Latin "castra", meaning castle or fort, and the river Colne, on which Colchester is situated.

 

[S&CLER]

Marsden near Colne became known as Nelson because of a pub; the original name survives in the Marsden Building Society (which has nothing to do with the other Marsden near Huddersfield).

 

[JD2168]

Woolley Colliery Village in Barnsley has been renamed to Woolley Grange.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Local to me, Ewell was historically called Etwelle.

That name, incidentally, is preserved in one of the local petrol stations.

 

[telstarbox]

Richmond (Surrey) was known as Sheen, but got renamed when it became the London home of the Duke/Earl/Something of Richmond (Yorks). Richmond (Yorks) had previously had a different name before it was renamed after Richemonde in France for similar reasons. Strangely, East Sheen and North Sheen kept their names when Sheen changed.

Good one!

Marsden near Colne became known as Nelson because of a pub; the original name survives in the Marsden Building Society (which has nothing to do with the other Marsden near Huddersfield).

Also a good example.

 

[D6130]

I believe that some of the inhabitants of the village of Moscow in North-East Ayrshire are trying to have the name of their village changed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The parish of Sitlington near Wakefield (which comprises the villages of Overton, Middlestown and Netherton), supposedly had an additional "h" after the "s" up until the late 19th century.

 

[Calthrop]

I believe that some of the inhabitants of the village of Moscow in North-East Ayrshire are trying to have the name of their village changed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A side-issue: but it rather amuses me that Moscow, Ayrshire, is situated on the Volga Burn -- the original Moscow isn't on the River Volga, but never mind ...

 

[Basil Jet]

I believe that some of the inhabitants of the village of Moscow in North-East Ayrshire are trying to have the name of their village changed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Which reminds me of a joke from the Soviet days about a guy filling in a government form.

Where were you born?......................... Saint Petersburg
Where did you go to school?................. Petrograd
Where do you live now?....................... Leningrad
Where would you most like to live?........ Saint Petersburg

 

[EdinRH]

The Edinburgh retail park Craig Park changed its name to Kinnaird Park in the early 1990s. I've never discovered the reason why for definite, but suspect it was to avoid confusion for posties and taxi drivers with the street Craigs Park, in the Corstorphine district of Edinburgh.

St Andrew's Square in the Newhaven district of Edinburgh (a separate village many years ago) had its name changed to Fishmarket Square to avoid confusion with St Andrew Square in Edinburgh's New Town.

 

[D6130]

The Scottish Borders village of Newcastleton - which formerly had a station on the now-closed Edinburgh-Carlisle 'Waverley Route' - was formerly known as Copshawholm (or Copshaw Holm).

 

[SargeNpton]

The area of Northampton that was known as Buttocks Booth is now Boothville.

 

[D6130]

I wonder if anyone has ever thought of renaming the village in Kent known as Pratt's Bottom? Likewise, we have a pair of hamlets near Hebden Bridge called Slack Top and Slack Bottom....but maybe I'm drifting into the territory of a potential new thread entitled 'Places which should perhaps be renamed'?

 

[Peter Sarf]

I wonder if anyone has ever thought of renaming the village in Kent known as Pratt's Bottom? Likewise, we have a pair of hamlets near Hebden Bridge called Slack Top and Slack Bottom....but maybe I'm drifting into the territory of a potential new thread entitled 'Places which should perhaps be renamed'?

Likewise I would like to see Besses-O'-Th'-Barn continue as a name !.

North Kent - Farningham Road used to be Fawkham (or was the station Fawkham Junction ?).

 

[Calthrop]

Likewise I would like to see Besses-O'-Th'-Barn continue as a name !.

I tend to find myself on the side of those local worthies who take the position "this place is called [whatever], and it will continue to bear that name -- to heck with the sniggers of people with a metal age of eight" (no offence meant to any posters here). I gather that that celebrated village in Austria, quite recently renamed "Fugging"; kept for a long time its former spelling, shocking / hilarious to many English-speakers -- it was the sheer expense of forever having to replace the entry-road name signs, stolen as souvenirs by such folk, which at last led to the name-change.

 

[gg1]

Magpie Lane in Oxford was once known by a somewhat ruder name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_Lane,_Oxford

 

[D6130]

Magpie Lane in Oxford was once known by a somewhat ruder name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_Lane,_Oxford

Likewise Grope Lane in Shrewsbury....but both of these are names of streets rather than places.

 

[nw1]

Other than those where there was an addition of words, often for pretentious reasons, such as Blandford Forum, Bognor Regis, or Staines-upon-Thames, I can only think of Piddletown that became Puddletown.

Never heard but I can imagine hearing from one of its posher residents: "Blandford? ... Blandford Forum if you don't mind."

I believe that some of the inhabitants of the village of Moscow in North-East Ayrshire are trying to have the name of their village changed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

How did it get the name "Moscow", incidentally? Coincidence or named after the Russian capital? I've heard of various "Moscow"s in the USA, but never one in Scotland!

Meanwhile one which has come up on this forum before is "Handborough" becoming "Hanborough".