Cumbrian toponymy

Cumbrian toponymy refers to the study of place names in Cumbria, a county in North West England, and as a result of the spread of the ancient Cumbric language, further parts of northern England and the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

The history of Cumbria is marked by a long and complex history of human settlement. Geographically, Cumbria is situated near the centrepoint of the British Isles. The contrasting landscapes between the mountains and the fertile coastal areas and the rich variety of mineral resources available in the county have made it a desirable area for habitation since the Upper Paleolithic, and various ethnic groups have been drawn to the area, leaving their linguistic mark since the Iron Age.

Whaley provides a summary of the history of linguistic influences on, plus a dictionary of, the place-names of the area covered by the Lake District National Park, plus entries for Kendal, Cockermouth and Penrith, Cumbria. The five much earlier volumes of the English Place-Name Society cover the whole of the former counties of Cumberland, and Westmorland. Ekwall covers Lancashire, the northern part of which now lies within Cumbria.

Since at least the Iron Age, the inhabitants of Cumbria would have spoken Common Brittonic, which is also the ancestor of modern Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Evidence of this language is mostly visible in topographical features such as rivers (Kent, Eden, Ehen, Levens) and mountains (Blencathra, Helvellyn, Coniston Old Man).

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