Collecting Welsh Place Names

Wales' place name heritage is constantly in the news, with regular outbursts of anger about the anglicisation of Welsh language names, and discussion of the government's efforts to protect them. At the forefront of these efforts is the List of Historic Place Names, a huge database of nearly 700,000 place names, dating from as early as the 2nd Century AD to as recently as last week, from a wide variety of languages, such as Welsh, English, Latin, Greek and Norman French. The Royal Commission's Place Names Officer, Dr James January-McCann, will talk about the campaign to protect our place name heritage for future generations, and how the List is used to do so, discussing the sources used and the development of the names we use today. There will be a particular focus on names in and around the Welshpool area.
- www.historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk
- RC_EnwauLleoedd
- www.rcahmw.gov.uk
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About CPAT
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust was established in 1975 and its object is the ‘education of the public in archaeology’. CPAT is one of four Welsh Archaeological Trusts working closely with other national, regional and local bodies to help conserve, understand and promote all aspects of the historic environment in Wales.
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust is committed to the highest standards in all areas of endeavour. We are founder members of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists‘ (CIfA) Registered Organisation scheme, which commits all of our staff to following the CIfA Code of Conduct and Standards and Guidance. Additionally, the work of the Historic Environment Advisory Services team is governed by a Code of Practice for provision of archaeological advice which applies to all of the Welsh Archaeological Trusts. We are proud of our reputation for undertaking high quality work which provides best value for the public - regardless of the nature of the work and how it is resourced.
* www.cpat.org.uk
* cpatarchaeology
* cpatarchaeology
* cpatarchaeology

[@residentoftherealm]

I have just been on ypur website, the facility is amazing! I have been fascinated with the meaning of the place names in wales for some time, I keep a book in the car for that reason. Your website is amazing. Thank you very much for such a valuable resource.

[@julieyarrow5300]

Diolch yn fawr iawn for a very interesting talk, we have checked out the maps and found the original names to the fields near us.

[@HistoryUnearthed-md]

Thanks for the talk, very interesting.
My hobby is metal detecting (a legit one who respects the law and History) and I often take into account field names in hope that they will give a clue as to what was previously on the land in the past. Just as an example, one of the field names on one of my permissions is 'Cefn yr wchyn' which according to Google translator means 'the back of the weasel' surely that's not what they have called the field! What could that possibly mean? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks