Heddon as a place name
There is a general discussion of the origin of place names in the UK here.
Place names in Northumberland are shown here.
The Institute for Name-Studies is the home of research into place-names and personal names at the University of Nottingham. A search of their Key to English Place-names only shows three matches for Heddon, all in Northumberland: Heddon on the Wall, East and West Heddon (together) and Black Heddon.
The name is taken to mean 'heathy hill' from the Old English words 'haeth' and 'dun'.
There is also a 'Hedon' in the East Riding of Yorkshire, just east of Kingston upon Hull (which appears to lack anything as high as a heathery hill) and a few places called Headon (for example in Nottinghamshire). Places called Heddon are also found in Somerset and Devon.
A map search also indicates a neolithic long barrow (burial cairn) called 'Hedon Howe' in North Yorkshire, south of Malton. Apart from these instances the name is surprisingly unusual.
The Place-names of Northumberland and Durham by Allen Mawer (Cambridge University Press 1920) gives the following information.
Early sources show that the name of Heddon on the Wall is an old one.
1175 the name 'Hedun' was used in the Pipe Rolls
1262 'Hedon' or 'Heddun'
c1250 'Hedon super murum' [on the Wall]
1291 first given as 'Heddon' in the current form.
Hedley is a more common element as in Hedley Hill (Lanchester), Hedley (Lamesley) and Hedley on the Hill.
This has a similar origin from Old English meaning 'Heathy wood or clearing'.
In 2010 a new housing development off Station Road in Heddon on the Wall was named 'Heath Hill'.
The names of East and West Heddon though are thought to have had a separate origin, the pronunciation and spelling eventually converging on that of 'Heddon', their dominant village neighbour, by 1638.
He documents the following variants:
1177 Hidewine (used in the Pipe Rolls)
1187 Hiddewin
1255 Hydewyn
c1250 Hydewin
1298 Hidwyn
1346 Hidwin or Hiddewyn
1428 Hydwyn
1538 Hedwyne
1580 Hedwen
1638 Heddon
Mawer considers the name to be pre-English and different from Heddon on the Wall. Although win or wyn is a common Old English place-name element, it's meaning is uncertain, and it is only found as the first element of the name (as in winburne). It is possible that the name has a Celtic origin, the -wen prefix common in Welsh names (from 'gwyn' or 'gwen' meaning white).
Place names in Northumberland are shown here.
The Institute for Name-Studies is the home of research into place-names and personal names at the University of Nottingham. A search of their Key to English Place-names only shows three matches for Heddon, all in Northumberland: Heddon on the Wall, East and West Heddon (together) and Black Heddon.
The name is taken to mean 'heathy hill' from the Old English words 'haeth' and 'dun'.
There is also a 'Hedon' in the East Riding of Yorkshire, just east of Kingston upon Hull (which appears to lack anything as high as a heathery hill) and a few places called Headon (for example in Nottinghamshire). Places called Heddon are also found in Somerset and Devon.
A map search also indicates a neolithic long barrow (burial cairn) called 'Hedon Howe' in North Yorkshire, south of Malton. Apart from these instances the name is surprisingly unusual.
The Place-names of Northumberland and Durham by Allen Mawer (Cambridge University Press 1920) gives the following information.
Early sources show that the name of Heddon on the Wall is an old one.
1175 the name 'Hedun' was used in the Pipe Rolls
1262 'Hedon' or 'Heddun'
c1250 'Hedon super murum' [on the Wall]
1291 first given as 'Heddon' in the current form.
Hedley is a more common element as in Hedley Hill (Lanchester), Hedley (Lamesley) and Hedley on the Hill.
This has a similar origin from Old English meaning 'Heathy wood or clearing'.
In 2010 a new housing development off Station Road in Heddon on the Wall was named 'Heath Hill'.
The names of East and West Heddon though are thought to have had a separate origin, the pronunciation and spelling eventually converging on that of 'Heddon', their dominant village neighbour, by 1638.
He documents the following variants:
1177 Hidewine (used in the Pipe Rolls)
1187 Hiddewin
1255 Hydewyn
c1250 Hydewin
1298 Hidwyn
1346 Hidwin or Hiddewyn
1428 Hydwyn
1538 Hedwyne
1580 Hedwen
1638 Heddon
Mawer considers the name to be pre-English and different from Heddon on the Wall. Although win or wyn is a common Old English place-name element, it's meaning is uncertain, and it is only found as the first element of the name (as in winburne). It is possible that the name has a Celtic origin, the -wen prefix common in Welsh names (from 'gwyn' or 'gwen' meaning white).
