2025 01 Spring with bleed - Flipbook - Page 25
Many oeld names relate to the
cultivation of the oeld. Grattan is
a Devon word for the stubble
left behind after corn is
harvested, whilst Leaze refers to
grassland, Meadow as grassland
cut for hay, and Ley speciocally
to land that has been cultivated, but is then rested for several years. Some
names refer to the livestock that would have been grazed or hunted on the
land. There are many names which renect the nature of rougher lands,
such as Moor, Furze (gorse), Broom, Brim (brambles) Down and Marsh.
Some names give hints as to the shape of the oeld. Quillet means small
and narrow, Long means a oeld which is narrow in
relation to it9s length. Brandis refers to a oeld
triangular in shape, and comes from an old word
for a three legged iron pot stand. Some names
come from the geology of the area. Cleave means
steep (from the same old English route as cliff),
Knap is a small hill, Coombe is a narrow valley,
Slade is the marshy bottom of a valley, and Ham
usually refers to a oeld on nat ground besides a
river or lake. So we now know that at our little plot at Venn Farm, the oeld
we keep our horses in was originally known as Great Meadow (in other
words: big oeld of grass for hay) and the oeld where the alpacas live was
known as Lower Cleave (a steep oeld, lower down the slope). The oelds
adjacent to the road which are no longer owned by Venn Farm were
called Higher Cleave (the higher part of the steep oeld), Homer Cleave
(the bit of the steep oeld closest to home) and Back Meadow (a hay oeld
behind the house). It's fascinating to learn the old names, and piece
together how they came about, how the land was used and thought about
in relation to where and how people lived.
See the full Field Map on p36
To read online—www.kingsnymptononline.com/latest-edition
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