The Vikings in Leeds

Leeds Hippo · Post by **Leeds Hippo** » Mon 30 May, 2011 10:04 pm

Following on from the post "The oldest church in Leeds" - what other evidence is there for the presense of the Vikings in Leeds - any maps of their settlements etc?

Post by **chameleon** » Tue 31 May, 2011 12:36 am

As noted in the 'Romans' thread -'The East Leeds Historical Society publish a booklet giving a resumé of the history of Leeds from 'The Beginnings' through the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods to the 'Age of Industry'.It is of course copyright of The Society but I don't think there will be objections to including small extracts here - I'll dig my copy out when I have a mo '

Si · Post by Si » Tue 31 May, 2011 8:50 am

Probably mentioned on here before, but here's the "Danish Camp" by the Aire, from Godfrey's 1908 N.W.Leeds OS map.

majorhoundii · Post by **majorhoundii** » Tue 31 May, 2011 9:25 am

Leeds Hippo wrote: Following on from the post "The oldest church in Leeds" - what other evidence is there for the presense of the Vikings in Leeds - any maps of their settlements etc? Place names for starters. Knostrop. Thorpe, are indicators of former Viking settlements.

Chrism · Post by **Chrism** » Tue 31 May, 2011 11:01 am

There are four main categories of Viking place names in England.Place names ending in -by, such as Selby or Whitby. These -by endings are generally places where the Vikings settled first. In Yorkshire there are 210 -by place names. The -by has passed into English as 'by-law' meaning the local law of the town or village.Place names ending in -thorpe, such as Scunthorpe. The -thorpe names are connected with secondary settlement, where the settlements were on the margins or on poor lands. There are 155 place names ending in -thorpe in Yorkshire.Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. These are known as 'Grimston hybrids', because -ton is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning town or village, and Grim is a Viking name. The idea is that a Viking took over an Anglo-Saxon place and called it after himself. (Women's names are very rare in place names). There are 50 'Grimston hybrid' names in Yorkshire.Changes in pronunciation. The Anglo-Saxon place name Shipton was difficult for the Vikings to say, so it became Skipton.