Abbey Burn
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NT917653
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 52m
Elements: SSE abbey + SSE burn
Description:
'Stream associated with an abbey', the eponymous abbey being that of Coldingham Priory.
As with Abbey Park CHM, the earlier name Bee Burn would appear to refer to refer to the production of honey. However, Dunlop (2016, I, 150-152) draws attention to an overlapping cluster of names from OE bene ‘bean’ in early medieval charters, suggesting a folk-etymological re-interpretation. Both names were in use at the time of the OS Name Book, which describes the stream as: 'A small stream, having its source on the moors, near "North Falla Knowe" but does not take this name until, it comes to a "Dam" at the boundary of "Silverwells," and "Abbey Park" farms; It flows, in a Southeast direction, and bears the name to "Floors Dean" This is commonly called "Bee Burn" See P. 61' (OS1/5/10/17).
Abbey Hill (Inner)
Abbey St Bathans (ASB)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NT756612
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 276m
Elements: SSE abbey + SSE hill + SSE inner
Description:
This is described in the OS Name Book as, 'An elevated portion of moor of a conical form immediately south of Abbey St. Bathans. It is mostly covered with Furze or Whins towards its top. It is a portion of the Abbey farm' (OS1/5/2/37). The affix Inner refers to its position, lying closer to the farm than the land designated Abbey Hill (Outer).
Abbey Hill (Outer)
Abbey St Bathans (ASB)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NT736608
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 252m
Elements: SSE abbey + SSE hill + SSE outer
Description:
This is described in the OS Name Book as, 'An extensive & elevated portion of moorland belonging to the Abbey Farm & from its distance from the farm house is designated "Outer" in contradistinction to one nearer the house called "Inner"' (OS1/5/2/29).
Abbey House
Abbey St Bathans (ASB)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT757622
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 158m
Elements: SSE abbey + SSE house
Description:
This is described in the OS Name Book as, ‘A large & substantially stone built house, the residence of Mr. J. Aitchison, the present occupier of the abbey farm - the outbuildings (which are detached) are extensive & commodious. The farm is very extensive having a variety of hill & dale wood & water. It is the property of of J. Turnbull. Abbey St. Bathans. Esq.’
Cruft et al. (2006, 90) state: 'Now subdivided. Built for the Turnbulls. It originated, probably in the early C19, as a thatched cottage orné (the datestone inscribed 1694 is unprovenanced), set at the base of a knoll with the ground falling away steeply N to the Whiteadder'.
Abbey Park
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT890656
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 122m
Elements: SSE abbey + SSE park
Description:
'Park or field associated with an abbey', the eponymous abbey being that of Coldingham Priory.
As with Abbey Burn CHM, the earlier name Bee Park would appear to refer to refer to the production of honey. However, Dunlop (2016, I, 150-152) draws attention to an overlapping cluster of names from OE bene ‘bean’ in early medieval charters, suggesting a folk-etymological re-interpretation. Both names were in use at the time of the OS Name Book, which describes the park as: 'A neat farmhouse, with garden and detached outhouses, and cottages. It is the property of the occupier Mr France - This is commonly called "Bee Park"' (OS1/5/10/22).
Abbey St Bathans
Abbey St Bathans (ASB)
Classification: Parish (extant / non-extant), Settlement
Grid reference: NT760617
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 171m
Elements: SSE abbey + pn St Baithéne
Description:
This most likely contains the name of Baithéne, second abbot of Iona (Watson 1926, 151; Taylor 1999, 43-52). The abbey itself was a former priory of Bernadine or Cistercian nuns, founded during the late twelfth century.
Acredale
Eyemouth (EYM)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT935641
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 42m
Elements: SSE acre + SSE dale
Description:
'Share of arable land' seems more likely here than a reference to the unit of land measurement, even loosely applied. The OS maps show an irregularly shaped field. The early form on the OS 6 inch 2nd edn map - Arcredale - appears to be a mistake.
Adder
Abbey St Bathans (ASB), Bunkle and Preston (BUP), Chirnside (CHS), Duns (DNS), Edrom (EDR), Fogo (FOG), Foulden (FOU), Gordon (GOR), Greenlaw (GRE), Hutton (HUT), Mordington (MRD), Westruther (WRR)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NT972517
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 8m
Elements: OE ēdre or un *ad(u)/*adro
Description:
The Adder is generally taken to belong to a group of pre-Celtic river-names with parallels elsewhere in Britain and continental Europe. These have been much discussed as evidence both for a movement of people from the continent in prehistoric times, and for the language spoken there prior to the emergence of the Celtic and Germanic branches of Indo-European. See for instance Nicolaisen (1982), Vennemann (1994), Kitson (1996) and Strandberg (2016, 107-09). Although it remains controversial whether that language was Indo-European or non-Indo-European, the scholarly consensus favours the former, and indeed it is sometimes referred to as alteuropäisch or Old European. If the Adder is indeed attributable to this ancient stratum of hydronymy, it would contain the root *ad(u)/*adro 'water-course, stream', which also appears in the names of the rivers Adda in northern Italy, Adra in Austria, Adula in Latvia, Attel in Austria, Eder in Germany, Oder on the German-Polish border, and Odla in Poland (Nicolaisen 2001 [1976], 238). As such, it would be one of the earliest and most important names within our study area.
Although the above interpretation may well be correct, the historical spellings (for which, see also under Blackadder Water and Whiteadder Water) are consistent with a derivation from OE ēdre ‘water-course’, indicating that the Adder may be a Northumbrian name. This was the view held by Watson (1926, 467), who noted the spelling Edre in the Life of St Cuthbert and in Symeon of Durham, and concluded that it ‘can hardly be other than A.S. ædre, édre, “an artery, a vein, fountain, river”’. (Note that in Watson’s time, the Old English language was known as Anglo-Saxon (‘A.S.’), and an acute accent was used to indicate long vowels.) The suggestion was dismissed by Ekwall (1928, 156) on the grounds that ‘This does not seem to me probable for a stream so relatively important as the Adder’. It does, however, align with recorded occurrences of the word, which extend to major waters including those of Noah’s flood (DOE A–I, s.v. ǣder, ǣdre, sense 5 ‘channel, water-course’), and it would also account satisfactorily for the related English hydronyms Etherow in Cheshire (Ederou 1285, Edderowe 1290), and Edder in Cumberland, recorded in the lost names Ederlangebeck 1294, Edderlanghalf (for hals) 1322, Edderlangtirn 1322. Despite treating these as a group, Ekwall prefers to derive Adder and Edder from an unattested adjective related to the homonymous OE adverb ǣdre ‘quickly, at once’, which, as he points out, would be appropriate for the two fast-flowing rivers but leaves Etherow unaccounted for.
Nicolaisen (2001 [1976], 236–39, at 238) follows Ekwall in identifying the two potential OE etymons, but regards neither as convincing. Although he too assumes incorrectly that the noun would only designate small streams, his argument rests primarily on phonological grounds: 'the main objection in both these cases must be that there is no justification for assuming an original English long vowel. The occasional -dd- spellings in the early forms, like Whiteddre and Heddreham, decisively point to a short stem-vowel as a necessary point of departure'. For that reason, he supports a derivation from the Indo-European root discussed above. Most recently, BLITON (Vol. 2, 6) leaves both possibilities open, but inclines towards the English hydronymic term, positing an unattested OE *edre with a short vowel in order to deal with the phonological difficulty raised by Nicolaisen.
In fact the solution may be more straightforward, as the orthographic evidence does not have the implications Nicolaisen thought. OE ēdre ‘a vein, a river’ is recorded variously in spellings with single -d- and with double ‑dd- (DOE A–I, s.v. ǣder, ǣdre). This is due to a regular sound change within the phonological environment. Campbell (1959, §453) describes ‘frequent instances of consonant doubling before r after a long vowel, which was probably shortened’, and cites ǣddran ‘veins’ among his examples. According to Hogg (1992, §7.79), gemination (the doubling of consonants) in this environment is specific to Old English, ‘unlike the situation in WGmc’. Nevertheless, although most Germanic cognates of OE ēdre have a long vowel followed by a single consonant, the most closely related is Old Frisian eddere, eddre (OED, s.v. eddre, n.). There is a possibility that the Northumbrian variety of Old English was particularly prone to gemination, but the evidence is ambiguous (Hogg, 1992, §7.79, n.2). However, this derivation must be preferred to an adjective ‘quick’ from the OE adverb ǣdre. The adverb itself is attested by only c.30 occurrences, mainly in poetry, none of which is spelled with double -dd- (DOE A–I, s.v. ǣdre), Moreover, the putative adjective is unknown in written or toponymic sources. This is unlikely to be due to an accident of survival, as Campbell (1959, §662) identifies ǣdre as one of a small group of adverbs with no corresponding adjectives in West Germanic.
Summing up the above, perhaps the strongest argument in favour of a pre-Celtic derivation is the unlikelihood of such a river being unnamed prior to the Northumbrian settlements. On the other hand, the same could be said of other major landscape features, yet the proportion of pre-English survivals is not high. Both possibilities remain open, with the balance of probability weighted towards a Northumbrian formation from OE ēdre ‘water-course’. The development of the a in the initial syllable appears to be late, and may be an example of hypercorrection under the influence of English. Indeed, just as later folk etymology has associated the hydronym with the unrelated word adder, so too it is possible that the Northumbrians encountered an early pre-Celtic river-name and associated it with their own word for a river.
The name presumably originally referred to both branches of the river, which come together at Allanton (NT864546). However, already in the mid-twelfth century these two branches were distinguished by the addition of the contrastive adjectives white and black (see Nicolaisen 2001 [1976], 237). This points towards some time depth for the name, suggesting that if the Old English rather than the pre-Celtic derivation is correct, it may date from early in the Northumbrian period. For all other early forms of these river-names, see under the individual head-names Blackadder Water and Whiteadder Water. After the Blackadder has joined the Whiteadder at Allanton, the river is known as the Whiteadder. It is incorporated as *Adder into place-names, such as Edrom, Edrington and Ethermouth, while Blackadder has also given its name to an estate.
Addinston
Lauder (LAU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT520530
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 225m
Elements: pn Alden + Sc toun
Description:
‘Alden’s settlement’. The eponymous Alden is probably the man mentioned in a charter dating from 1201 x 1234 granting ‘land which Alden of Langhald held in Addinston’. Details are in the PoMS database at https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/person/7862/. The place-name is thus roughly contemporary with its earliest record, and derives from Scots toun rather than from OE tūn. The OS Name Book has separate entries for East Addinston and West Addinston, as follows:
East Addinston - 'A well built Farm house and steading, with a large arable Farm attatched, It is tenanted by Mr. John Dixon and is the Property of the Marquis of Tweeddale' (OS1/5/28/73).
West Addinston - 'A well built Farm house and Steading, with a large arable Farm attatched, it is Tenanted by Mr. Laing and is the Property of the Marquis of Tweeddale' (OS1/5/28/73).
Addinston Hill
Lauder (LAU)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NT518545
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 373m
Elements: en Addinston + SSE hill
Description:
'Hill associated with Addinston'. This is described in the OS Name Book as, 'A large hill situated on the farm of Addinston, on it is a triangulation station' (OS1/5/28/46).
Airhouse
Channelkirk (CHK)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT482535
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 304m
Elements: un uncertain
Description:
This is a puzzling name, which seems to have developed its modern form through folk etymology. Johnston (1940, 18) suggests ‘house on the tongue of land or gravelly bank’ from ON eyrr, or G àros ‘a house’, but neither derivation is plausible. There might perhaps be a connection with the name of Armet Water (Airmett Burn 1752 x 1755), which is also obscure.
A possibility suggested by Bill Patterson (personal communication) is that a nearby Butterdean ‘valley with rich pasture’ on early maps may provide a context for a derivation from Gaelic àirigh ‘summer pasture, shieling’. The addition of an English plural -s, as in Arras in the East Riding of Yorkshire (from Old Norse erg ‘shieling’), could have led to a folk etymological development to Airhouse. If this is correct, it would add to the slender stock of Gaelic names in Berwickshire.
Ale Water
Ayton (AYT), Coldingham (CHM), Eyemouth (EYM)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NT939625
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 38m
Elements: un *alauna
Description:
This may be one of a number of river-names in Scotland that are paralleled in continental Europe, and reflect a pre-Celtic stratum of naming - usually taken to be Indo-European, although a non-Indo-European derivation has also been proposed. They appear to be formed on a root meaning 'to flow, to stream'. For further discussion, see Nicolaisen 2001 [1976], 240.
NGR is junction with Eye Water.
Alemill
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT913636
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 84m
Elements: en Ale + Sc miln
Description:
'Mill on the Ale (Water)'. Alemill is situated on the east side of the Ale Water.
Allanbank
Lauder (LAU)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT525474
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 195m
Elements: pn Allan + SSE bank
Description:
Without the OS Name Book, the first element would be ambiguous between different types of name. However, it is identified as the surname of the contemporary occupier within the description, which reads: 'A neat and commodious mansion built of stone, with suitable out offices attached: It is pleasantly situated, and surrounded by Plantations. The Property of the occupier W. H. Allan' (OS1/5/28/142).
Cruft et al. (2006, 488) describe Allanbank House as follows: 'early C19 two-storey and attic piend-roofed villa with contemporary(?) single-storey wings on either side.'
Allanton
Edrom (EDR)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT865542
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 61m
Elements: en Allanbank + Sc toun
Description:
‘Settlement associated with Allan(bank)’. The OS 6 inch 1st edn map shows Allanbank House at NT856543 (demolished 1968 or 1969 – see https://canmore.org.uk/site/94328/allanbank) and Allanbank Mill (Corn) at NT862544. Roy shows Allan Bank Burn, a tributary of Blackadder Water (possibly equivalent to Kelloe Burn on OS 6 inch 1st edn, which meets Blackadder Water at NT851540).
This is described in the OS Name Book as, ‘A Small Village. near the confluence of the Blackadder, and Whiteadder waters, and on the road from Chirnside, to Whitsome &c. and about a mile from the former -
The houses are built of stone, & are chiefly of one story. having small gardens attached, there are in it one Public-house, several small Grocers’ shops, two schools, male & female, but no place of public worship – The principal proprietor is Sir G. H. Boswall Baronet’ (OS1/5/18/21).
Cruft et al. (2006, 101) state: 'Allanton is a single street, mostly lined with single-storey terraced cottages. The earliest were built in the early C19 with gardens, on feus granted by Steuart of Allanbank'.
Williamson's entry for Allanton (1942, 28) appears to have earlier forms, but some are of Alwinton NTB.
Andrew's Cairn
Cockburnspath (CBP)
Classification: Antiquity
Grid reference: NT808685
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 231m
Elements: pn Andrew + Sc cairn
Description:
The identity of the eponymous Andrew is unknown. The feature is described in the OS Name Book for Cockburnspath parish in the following way: 'A small mound or tumulus on the farm of Penmanshiel. I could not asertain [sic] the reason why it is called "Andrew's Cairn"' (OS1/5/8/129). A more extended description from the mid-nineteenth century reads: 'On the march between Aldcambus and Penmanshiel, about half a mile distant, there are still the remains of a cairn, called Andrew's Cairn. It is about 30 feet in diameter, but affords no correct idea of these monuments, being low and flat and overgrown with turf. It is composed of the large boulder stones which are sparingly scattered over the adjacent moors. Like several of these ancient heaps, it now serves as a boundary-mark; a purpose to which these structures have been put from the earliest ages': James Hardy, 'An Account of an Assemblage of Ancient Sepulchral Monuments, in the East of Berwickshire', History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 3 (1850-1856; published 1857), 103-11, at 109.
For further details, see CANMORE entry at https://canmore.org.uk/site/59814/penmanshiel-andrews-cairn
Angelrow Farm
Greenlaw (GRE)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT740449
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 128m
Elements: Sc angel + Sc raw, row + SSE farm
Description:
Interpretation of this name is currently uncertain. One possibility is a connection with Roweston Chapel (Remains of), marked to the north-east of Angelrow Farm on the OS 6 inch 1st edn map at NT745455. There is also Grave Yard (Site of). It is conceivable that the chapel may have been dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, and Angelrow named from it. A parallel with the street name Angel Row (The Angell’ Row 1587) in Nottingham, England, is unlikely, as the latter is named from an inn sign.
The description in the OS Name book is as follows: 'A good dwelling house, with commodious out houses, and an arable farm of land attached. Occupied by James Burton The Property of Sir H H Cambell, Marchmount' (OS1/5/23/88).
Anton's Hill
Eccles (ECC)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT785434
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 72m
Elements: pn Anthony or pn St Anthony + Sc hill
Description:
The place-name appears to contain Anton, the Anglo-Norman vernacular form of Anthony, with reference either to a local man or to St Anthony. The PoMS database records 7 men with the name, one of whom is Anthony (Antonio) Corbet who witnessed a Kelso charter concerning Mow in Roxburghshire during the late 12th century (Kelso Liber i no. 177). The generic law in the earliest spelling is later replaced by the near-synonym hill; the form of the first element in the same spelling may represent an abbreviated form Anttās for Anttans, with the nasal suspension mark for a following n having been overlooked.
The present house is described as follows: ‘1836, William Burn: Typical high-quality small-to-medium two-storey house, employing Burn’s vocabulary to the full. In the grounds Wrangham’s Well, marked by inscribed stone well-head’ (Strang 1994, 62) [bold font added].
'1836 by William Burn for General Sir Martin Hunter. Designed to be built in stages, starting, unusually, with the service wing and finishing with the principal elevation in 1853. [...] Inserted in the S recess is the coat-of-arms of the Dicksons, former owners of the estate, dated 1727' (Cruft et al. 2006, 105).
Armet Water
Channelkirk (CHK), Fala and Soutra (FSO), Stow (STO)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NT426512
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 242m
Elements: un *er-/*or- + SSE water
Description:
Nicolaisen (2001 [1976], 241) considers it 'just possible' that the Armet Water belongs to a group of river-names in Britain that are paralleled in continental Europe, and reflect a pre-Celtic stratum of naming. If this is correct, it would be formed on a root meaning 'to cause to move, to stimulate'.
NGR marks junction with Gala Water.
Ashfield
Duns (DNS)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT793552
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 139m
Elements: SSE ash + SSE field
Description:
'Field with an ash tree', or 'field with ash trees'. Ashfield appears to be listed in the Index to the OS Name Book for Duns, but does not have an entry in the book.
Atton Burn
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NT826643
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 104m
Elements: en Alton + Sc burn
Description:
'Burn associated with Alton'. This is described in the OS Name Book as, 'A small stream having its source in Mossland to the north of Dalks Law, and running with many sinews in a South westerly direction passing through Alton Dean till its confluence with the Eye Water, near to Renton Barns. Alton may be a corruption of the Gaelic Alltan - [a] small stream or a Brook' (OS1/5/10/8). However, Alton is more likely to be a Scots name meaning 'old farm or settlement'. The same name appears in Atton Cottage.
Atton Cottage
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT830648
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 146m
Elements: en Alton + SSE cottage
Description:
'Cottage at Alton', a Scots name meaning 'old farm or settlement'.
Auchencrow
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT852607
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 103m
Elements: OE ald + OE græf or OE grǣfe or OE grāf or OE grāfa
Description:
The first element is probably OE ald ‘old’ with the adjectival inflection preserved (-an) (see VEPN under ald), although the personal name Haldan, earlier Halfdan has been proposed; against this may be cited Addinston LAU, which does indeed seem to contain this name, and always with the strong genitival s (Aldenistoun 1222 Dryb. Lib. no. 84; Aldenistoun 1222 Dryburgh Lib. no. 85). The second element is difficult to interpret exactly – there is a whole complex of OE words which might underlie it, all of which are difficult to distinguish from each other (see EPNE under græf, ‘a digging, a pit, a trench’, grǣfe ‘a grove, copse, thicket’, grǣf, grǣfa, grǣfe ‘a grove, copse’, and *grafa ‘a trench, a ditch’).
Auchencrow Mains
Coldingham (CHM)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT857601
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 95m
Elements: en Auchencrow + SSE mains
Description:
'The mains or home farm of Auchencrow'. The OS Name Book describes this as, 'A neatly built dwelling house having a garden and ornamental grounds, Also attached is a farm steading with a thrashing mill, and two rows of cottages occupied by farm labourers - Tenanted by Edward Makins: It is the property of D. M. Home Esquire of Milnegraden Coldstream'. A note then follows: 'This name is, apparently, derived from two gaelic words Achadh and cro Signifying Field and Fold It may be a corruption of either Ach'-na-crotha (pronounced Auchnacrow) meaning "The Field of the Fold; or of Ach'-na'n-cro The Field of the Folds. Na Crotha is the genitive Singular and 'na'n cro' is the genitive plural of the Substantive "cro" - a Fold Achadh is pronounced "Auchah' the d is silent' (OS1/5/11/39). Although incorrect (see entry for Auchencrow for the real origin), the supposed derivation throws light on contemporary perceptions of the name.
Ayton
Ayton (AYT)
Classification: Parish (extant / non-extant), Settlement
Grid reference: NT927609
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 45m
Elements: en Eye + OE tūn
Description:
‘Farm or settlement on the Eye Water’. This is an OE name which probably dates from towards the end of the Northumbrian-speaking period, since the Eye is also from OE and must have been established as a river name before being incorporated into the name of the settlement. Note the error in the St A. Liber, 31 taxation list of c.1250 of Aytun for Hutton, which appears correctly in the equivalent lists in Dunf. Reg. no. 313 and Arb. Lib. i no. 300. Also Lawrie states that Blahano presbitero de Litun, a witness of Bishop Robert of St Andrews' charter to Coldingham in 1127 (ESC LXXIII, note p. 323) ‘is probably a mistake for Ayton’. In fact, this is Linton LTN ROX (SEA I, Index).
Cruft et al. (2006, 108) provide the following description: 'Ayton was enclosed c. 1750, and a new village begun after 1765 with land feued by James Fordyce of Ayton Castle [...] for about thirty houses, mostly of three storeys and tiled, placed on an attractive sloping bank. In the mid C19 the line of the great London road (A1) was altered, feus were granted on a new building line and in a regular form. The old village, closer to the castle, was largely demolished. Villas began to appear in the mid C19'.
Ayton Castle
Ayton (AYT)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT928613
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 57m
Elements: en Ayton + SSE castle
Description:
The following description of Ayton Castle is provided by Cruft et al. (2006, 110): 'Scottish Baronial of 1845-51 by James Gillespie Graham. The early castle was forfeited after the 1715 rebellion, and vested in the Crown until purchase in 1765 by James Fordyce, Commissioner for Lands, Woods and Forests of Scotland, who planted the estate and began the new village of Ayton [...] In 1834 the property was dramatically destroyed by fire and bought in 1838 by William Mitchell-Innes, Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who commissioned its replacement. Extensions and alterations followed: first by David Bryce, master of the Baronial, in 1860-1, and then by J. M. Wardrop in 1864-7. In 1888 the castle and estate were sold to Henry Liddell of Middleton Hall, Northumberland, whose descendants are still in occupation'.
Ayton Hill
Ayton (AYT)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NT946598
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 193m
Elements: en Ayton + SSE hill
Description:
'Hill associated with Ayton'. The OS Name Book provides the following description: 'A very high ridge of land so called from its proximity to the village of Ayton A splendid view of the surrounding country [can] be had from this hill' (OS1/5/3/76).
Ayton Mains
Ayton (AYT)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT934621
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 48m
Elements: en Ayton + Sc mains
Description:
'The mains or home farm of Ayton'. The OS Name Book describes it as:'A commodious farm house two stories high with suitable offices, and a thrashing machine Attached are also a vegetable garden and a large arable farm. It is tenanted by Mr Darling and is the property of Captain Innes Ayton Castle' (OS1/5/3/39). Cruft et al. (2006, 112) write: 'c. 1870. An asymmetrical Tudor-gabled farmhouse, its farm cottages with hoodmould and canopied entrances'.
Aytonlaw
Ayton (AYT)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT914609
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 62m
Elements: en Ayton + Sc law
Description:
'Ayton hill'. As with many place-names, the settlement is defined in terms of its topographical surroundings. It is described in the OS Name Book as, 'A. commodious farm house two stories high with suitable offices and a steam thrashing mill attached, all are in good repair. There are also attached a vegetable garden and a large arable farm. It is tenanted by Mr. James White and is the property of Captain Innes Ayton Castle' (OS1/5/3/50).
Aytonwood House
Ayton (AYT)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NT918621
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 80m
Elements: en Ayton + SSE wood + SSE house
Description:
The OS Name Book gives a clear account of the meaning of the name: 'A small square built House with garden attached It obtains its name from being situated in the wood near the Town of Ayton It is the property of Captain Innis, Ayton Castle Occupied by William Claghorn, Forrester' (OS1/5/3/32).