Saturday 10 September 2011

East Lancashire Nomenclature by H.C. March

The first appearance of Rochdale in writing is in the Doomsday Book, where it is spelt
Racedham.In 1170 it is written Rachdam. Soon after 1200 the township of Rochdale
is called Villa Castella Rachedham. Hence we may confidently conclude that the pronunciation was Ratchdam.
In 1291 it is written Rakedale.This was due to Scandanavian influence. Dale is a Norse term for a wide valley and is quite distict from the Saxon dell.

No comments:

Post a Comment