Friday 29 September 1989

Names And Places

NAMES AND PLACES

The second slide-presentation in a series of five weekly shows on Warminster's past, being presented this autumn by Danny Howell at the Athenaeum, was attended by 114 people.
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Mr. Howell's subject was 'Names And Places' and he focused attention on street, field and house names in and around the town.
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Some names, such as Market Place, Elm Hill, East Street and Chapel Street need no explanation but others are either misleading or need considerable research to ascertain their meaning or origin.
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Silver Street, for instance, has no connection with precious metal or coinage but means 'the paved way leading to Selwood Forest'.
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Ash Walk was previously known as Ashey's Walk, a name derived from the time when the locality featured a house called Asheys or Ashes. This was the home, in the 16th century, of Mr. Blake, one of the first feoffees of St. Laurence's Chapel.
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Over the years some street names changed. Emwell Street is shown on the 1838 Enclosure Award for Warminster as Back Lane (because it ran at the rear of Silver Street).
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Weymouth Street, connecting Market Place with Sambourne, was constructed in 1830, at the same time as the Town Hall and Christ Church were built. For a considerable period Weymouth Street was referred to as New Road.
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Upper Marsh Road was officially named in 1901, after a discussion by the Local Board, who at one point considered calling it Christ Church Road. It was formerly referred to by local people as Top Road.
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Some names have disappeared from the Warminster map. Ebenezer Place (south of George Street), Mifflin's Yard (off Vicarage Street), Bed's Feet (at the lower end of Sambourne Road), and Eacott's Lane (connecting Boreham Road with Woodcock), are just a few of the old Warminster place names now out of current usage.
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The meaning of all these names were discussed. Eacott's Lane, for example, was named after a landlord of the Rising Sun beer house (demolished in 1873 to make way for Highbury House).
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Mr. Howell also explained how shapes can also dictate place names. One example is the triangular area at the western end of Woodcock, borderd by Woodcock Road, Imber Road and New Close Lane. It is marked on old maps as 'Harpland', a once popular name for any piece of land in the shape of the harp musical instrument.
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Some of the more modern housing estates have street names which bear no reference to the area but have been chosen simply because they sound pleasant. These include the residential area off South Street which uses bird names: Swallow Close, Swift Mead, Martin Crest and Wren Close. Mr. Howell commented that he much preferred to see street names which bear particular reference to the area's past or someone associated with the town's history.
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House names often reflect the home-town of the current or former resident. Prestbury House in Boreham Road, was built for Rev. Dixon in 1909 and he named it after his family's former home, Prestbury Hall, near Macclesfield in Cheshire. Highbury House, on the opposite side of Boreham Road, was so named by Catherine Morgan after her family's home in London.
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House names also come about because of the wit or ingenuity of their owners. Number 3 Westbury Road, is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mole, and their son Barry, who not only tunes pianos but also writes humorous scripts for pantomimes and radio shows. Barry's occupation and his sense of humour probably account for why the house is named 'Mellowdee'.
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Mr. Howell's lecture entertained the audience for just over two hours, during which he discussed 115 Warminster place names.