handbook of the origin of place-names in wales and monmouthshire

Some think that eirw is a corruption of aeron, summer fruits, so called on account of the abundance of thesefruits on the banks of the rivulet. English name — Foam brook.Newchurch. — It was anciently called Llanfihangel- y-Creuddyn-Uchaf. The new name was derived from thefact that Colonel Thomas Johns, Hafod Uchtryd, built a new church here in 1803.Penddol. — Pen, top; dol, meadow, signifying a place at the top or head of a meadow. English name —Upton.Penrhiwbal. — Pen, top rhiw, slope; bal, prominence. Bal is a general term applied to those mountains thatterminate in a peak. English name — Peakton.Penrhylog. — Pen, head, top; rhylog, according to some, is a contraction of yr-haleg, salty place. We ratherthink it to be rhylleg, the name in full signifying a high place full of clefts. English name — Clefthead.Penrhyngoch. — Penrhyn, headland; coch, red, so called from the hue of the soil of the land. English name— Redland.Pentref Taliesin. — Pentref, a village; Taliesin, the name of the chief of the Welsh bards. His sepulture tookplace near the village. English name — Bardham.Penybryn. — The name, which signifies " the head or top of the hill," is derived from the situation of thechurch on the summit of a hill overlooking the sea. Sometimes the parish is called Llanfihangel Penybrynfrom the dedication of the church to St. Michael. English name — Hilltop.Penyparc. — Parc means an enclosed piece of land. In the Southern counties it is synonymous with cae, afield. Penyparc, therefore, means the end of a field. Park is an Anglicized form of pare, English name —Parksend.Ponterwyd. — Pont, bridge; Erwyd, the name of the river that flows under the bridge. The village derives itsname from the old bridge. English name — Bridgewater.Pontrhydfendigaid. — Bendigaid, blessed. This name, evidently, is a relic of the Roman epoch. Theblessed celebrities of the monastery at Strata Florida were wont to cross a certain ford in the river, wherethey invoked the blessings of the blessed virgin, over which, in course of time, a bridge was built ; hence thename. English name — Blissford.Pontrhydygroes. — Pont, bridge; rhyd, ford; y, the; groes, cross. English name — CrossfordRhiwarthen. — Rhiw, slope, declivity; Art hen, according to some, is the name of a king or lord ofCeredigion, who died in 804, but we rather think it is a clipped form of garthen, a camp or battle. Englishname — Camphill.Rhuddlan. — A compound of rhudd, red; and glan, bank. English name — Redbank.Rhydmanteg. — Rhyd, ford; man, place, spot; teg, fair. English name — Fordham.Rhyd-Pennant. — Pennant means the end of the brook. English name — Brookford.Sarnau. — This name is the plural form of sarn, paved road, causeway, so called from the remains ofseveral paved roads across a bog in the district. English name — Roadby.Strata Florida. — Strata, paved roads. The Roman strata became the Saxon streets. Florida, aboundingwith flowers. Some maintain that the abbey was dedicated to Fflur, the daughter of Mygnach Gorr, but thesupposition is unsupported by historical fact. An eye-witness wrote, a few years ago, anent the famous place— " even now the adjacent peat land is covered with heath flowers. As we were travelling over it, reachingTregaron about sunset, we gazed on the scene, and the whole extensive plain blushed as it bathed in a seaof purple. '" English name — Floridton.Swyddffynon. — Swydd here means jurisdiction. In ancient times the law court of the commot of Mefenyddwas held here, perhaps near a celebrated well, called Ffynon oer, cold well. English name — Lexwell.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 30