Blewburton Hill Hillfort View all content for Blewburton Hill

Realting to the naming of Blewbury village... Which came first? the hillfort? or the village? I suspect the village nearby was named after the iron age hillfort. The placename evidence suggests that the latter part of the placename of the village of Blewbury, the 'bury' is a derivative of 'burh' or 'byrig' in Anglo-saxon times. This means 'Hill fort'. Although not all placenames that end in 'bury' mean 'hillfort', many do relate to an ancient structure, be it, barrow or hill fort. An early recording of the placename in the year 944 is 'Bleobyrig'. After the Normans came, it was recorded in the DB in 1086 as 'Blidberia'. What a difference a new ruler makes in terms of culture (and indeed, spelling!) So then, the village was named after the iron age hillfort.

Posted by wysefool 3rd November 2003ce

Comments (0)
You must be logged in to add a comment