THE PLACE NAMES OF
CALSTOCK PARISH
by
Patrick E. Coleman

This booklet attempts to discover the earliest mention of the main place names of Calstock Parish, to explain how they developed and what they probably mean. There are 65 entries.

The Calstock Parish Archives, held in Calstock Village Hall, were used quite extensively, as they go back as far as the 1300's and have proved to be invaluable. Many of the original records are on rolls of parchment kept in the Duchy Record Office in London. Thus reference is often made to Court Rolls, Assession Rolls etc as the source of any early mention.

It may be purchased for £3 which includes postage and packing in the UK and £4 overseas. Cheques can only be accepted in Sterling pounds. All profits go to support the archive.

Cheques, payable to Calstock Parish Archive Trust, should be sent to:

An example from the book

CHILSWORTHY
The very first document which mentions Chilsworthy in 1337 refers to it under three different spellings, Chillesworthi, Chilleswarthi and Chellesworthi. Variations on this spelling remain constant until the 1500's when a 'd' is often introduced into the name making it Childesworthi. In the succeeding centuries, however, the modern spelling was soon adopted, and Chilsworthy has remained the constant spelling for the last two hundred years. The origin of the name is undoubtedly Old English, Ceol's worthig, where Ceol is a Saxon name and worthig means a minor farmstead. It is interesting to note that the Saxons seemed to use the name worthig for any secondary farmstead, carved out of the moorland above older settlements. As we know that Chilsworthy was right on the edge of Hingston Down in the 1300's, this fits the pattern very well. Thus it seems reasonable to assume that Chilsworthy was of a late Saxon foundation.