Minor Ford Place-names.

These place-names include hamlets, farms and the names of bridges. In each of these cases, the ford no longer exists, but its presence in earlier times is indicated by the surviving place-name. The present topography of the landscape was observed and photographs taken. Other information was obtained from various sources and included in these descriptions. Much of the information was obtained from the published volumes on the Place-Names of Shropshire, obtainable from the English Place Names Society. Other details were supplied by Dr Margaret Gelling, who holds the EPNS collection of data for Shropshire and is an acknowledged expert on this topic.

This document contains a summary of the information collected about each of the ford sites. As a topographic term, a “-ford” place-name indicates a settlement next to a crossing-place of a stream or river. Such topographic names usually correspond to early (fifth and sixth century) Anglo-Saxon settlements, but in Shropshire, the (Celtic-speaking) kingdom of Powys continued until the early part of the seventh century and the change to English Place-Names must have happened after this - probably the mid-seventh century. The unexpected thing about Shropshire Place-names is the very large proportion of Anglo-Saxon names and the failure of the British (Celtic) names to survive. Many of the “-ford” place-names will indicate the re-naming of earlier settlements in the seventh century. The Latin "vadum" does not appear in Shropshire place-names.