Llan (placename)

Llan (Welsh pronunciation: [ɬan]) and its variants (Breton: lan; Cornish: lann; Pictish: lhan) are a common placename element in Brythonic languages. The (often mutated) name of the relevant saint or location[1] follows the element: for example "Llanfair" is the parish or settlement around the church of St. Mair (Welsh for "Mary").

The various forms of the word are cognate with English land and lawn and presumably initially denoted a specially cleared and enclosed area of land.[2][3] In late antiquity, it came to be applied particularly to the sanctified land occupied by communities of Christian converts. It is part of the name of over 630 locations in Wales and nearly all have some connection with a local patron saint. These were usually the founding saints of the parish,[4] relatives of the ruling families who invaded Wales during the early Middle Ages.[5] The founder of a new llan was obligated to reside at the site and to eat only once a day, each time taking a bit of bread and an egg and drinking only water and milk. This lasted for forty days, Sundays excepted, after which the land was considered sanctified forever.[4] The typical llan employed or erected a circular or oval embankment with a protective stockade, surrounded by wood or stone huts.[6] Unlike Saxon practice, these establishments were not chapels for the local lords but almost separate tribes, initially some distance away from the secular community.[7] Over time, however, it became common for prosperous communities to either become monasteries forbidden to lay residents or to become fully secular communities controlled by the local lord.[8]

In the later Middle Ages, llan also came to denote entire parishes, both as an ecclesiastical region and as a subdivision of a commote or hundred.

Place names in Wales

Places named after saints
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

(All pages with titles beginning with Llan)

Place names with religious connections other than a saint

Place names without a religious connection
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

(llan on the meander of the river Dwy)

Place names in counties bordering Wales

Place names in Cornwall

Places named after saints

Place names with religious connections other than a saint
  • Kellilann, Clann, enclosure grove
  • Lannbesow, Lambessow, birch tree enclosure
  • Lannbron, Lambourne, hill enclosure
  • Lanndreth, St Blazey, religious enclosure by a beach or ferry
  • Lanneves, Lanivet, sacred grove religious enclosure
  • Lanneyst, Laneast, unknown
  • Lanngordhow, Fowey, religious enclosure of tribes
  • Lannmanagh, Lammana, monk's enclosure
  • Lannmanagh, Looe Island, monk's enclosure
  • Lannpenn, Lampen, head enclosure
  • Lannsans, Lezant, holy religious enclosure
  • Lannvab, Mabe, son's enclosure
  • Lannvyhan or Ladnvian, Laddenvean, small religious enclosure
  • Lannwydhek, Mylor, wooded religious enclosure
  • Seghlan, Sellan, dry enclosure

Place names without a religious connection
  • Landrevik, Landrivick, originally Hendrevik (little old farm)
  • Landu, Landue, originally Nansdu (black or dark valley)
  • Landu, Lanjew (Withiel), originally Lendu (black or dark strip field)
  • Landuwy, Lantewey, originally Nantduwey (valley of the river Dewey)
  • Lannestek, Lanescot, originally Lysnestek (Nestoc's court)
  • Langarth, Langarth, originally Lenangath (the cat's strip field)
  • Langover, Langore, originally Nansgover (stream valley)
  • Lanjergh, Lanjeth, originally Nansyergh (roebucks valley)
  • Lanjiogh, Lanjew (Kea), originally Nanskiogh (stream valley)
  • Lankarrow, Lancarrow, originally Nanskarrow (stag's valley)
  • Lanlegh, Lanteague, originally Nanslegh (rock slab valley)
  • Lanlowarn, Lanlawren, originally Nanslowarn (fox's valley)
  • Lanmelin, Lamellion, originally Nansmelin (mill valley)
  • Lanmelin, Lamellyn, originally Nansmelin (mill valley)
  • Lanmorek, Lamorick, originally Nansmorek (Moroc's valley)
  • Lanmornow, Lamorna, originally Nansmornow (valley of a stream called Morno)
  • Lannergh, Lanarth, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Landrake, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Lannarth, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Lanner, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Larrick, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Larrick (South Petherwin), woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Muchlarnick, woodland clearing
  • Lansewigy, Lanseague, originally Nansewigy (hinds valley)
  • Lanteglos, Lanteglos-by-Camelford, originally Nanteglos (church valley)
  • Lanteglos, Lanteglos-by-Fowey, originally Nanteglos (church valley)
  • Lantlogh, Landlooe, originally Nantlogh (valley of the river Looe)
  • Lantollek, Lantallack, originally Nanstollek (hollowed valley)
  • Lantyvet, Lantivet, originally Nantyvet (cultivated valley)
  • Lantyeyn, Lantyan, originally Nantyeyn (cold valley)
  • Lanyeyn, Lanyon, originally Lynyeyn (cold pool)
  • Lanyeyn, Lanyon (Gwinear), named after the Lanyon family from Lynyeyn (cold pool)

Place names in areas bordering Cornwall

Place names in Brittany

Place names in Cumbria

The Cumbric language was spoken in Cumbria and elsewhere in The Old North up until the Early Middle Ages and as such, some place names in Cumbria and surrounding counties have a Brythonic origin.

  • Lamplugh (Cumbria), the second element '-plugh' has been explained as equivalent to Welsh plwyf "parish",[10] or blwch "bare".[11]
  • Lanercost Priory (Cumbria). The name "Lanercost" is derived from llanerch, a British or Gaelic word meaning an open space in a wood.[12]

Place names in areas bordering Cumbria
  • Lampert (Northumberland), also spelt Lampart. The second element has been explained as an equivalent of Welsh perth, "hedge, thicket".[11]
  • The Roman castrum at Vindolanda is derived from *windo- (fair, white, blessed) and Llan (the modern Welsh equivalent would be "Gwynlan", and the modern Gaelic word "Fionnlann" [Old Gaelic word "Fiondland"] ).

Place names in Scotland

Some place names in Scotland have Pictish and Cumbric elements such as aber- and lhan- (also spelled lum-, lon- and lin-) that are cognate with those in other Brittonic languages. Its occurrence in Pictland may represent adoption into Gaelic of the Pictish usage.[13]

  • Lhanbryde (Gaelic: Lann Brìghde), Saint Bride (the place name is first recorded as Lamanbride in 1215, and the modern Welsh-like spelling is probably a 19th-century innovation)
  • Lincluden, an abbey in Dumfries and Galloway. The second part of the name refers to the nearby Cluden Water.[11] The first part could also be lïnn, "pool" (Welsh llyn).[11][14]
  • Lindores, a village in Fife with an abbey. The name is thought to have meant "church by the water".[15]
  • Longannet, a village in Fife, occupied by a now-decommissioned power station. The name probably meant "former church enclosure".[16]
  • Lumphanan (Gaelic: Lann Fhìonain), Saint Fhìonain, a village in Aberdeenshire.
  • Lumphinnans in Fife. Its etymology is identical to Lumphinnans above, with which it shares a Gaelic name.
  • Pouterlampert, near Castleton, Scottish Borders.[11] The -lampert part of the name may share an etymology with the aforementioned Lampart in Northumberland.[11] The first part of the name is *polter, an obscure[11] Brittonic suffix.

In fiction

See also

References
  1. A number of placenames now beginning with llan owe their present form to confusion, having originated as glan ("river bank") or nant ("stream, hollow"). An example is Llanbradach, which was originally Nant Bradach ("Valley of the Bradach"). An example in Cornish is Lanteglos, from an original Nanseglos ("Church Valley").
  2. Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "land, n.¹". Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1901.
  3. Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "laund, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1902.
  4. Baring-Gould, Sabine. The Lives of the Saints, Vol. 16, "The Celtic Church and its Saints", p. 67. Longmans, Green, & Co. (New York), 1898.
  5. Baring-Gould, p. 40.
  6. Baring-Gould, p. 33.
  7. Baring-Gould, p. 92.
  8. Baring-Gould, pp. 37–38.
  9. "GO BRITANNIA! Wales: Sacred Places - Llandaff (Thlan daff) Cathedral". Britannia.com. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  10. "Lamplugh". Whitehaven and Western Lakeland. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  11. James, Alan. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence" (PDF). SPNS - The Brittonic Language in the Old North. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  12. http://www.lanercostpriory.org.uk/history/foundation.html
  13. James, Alan G. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence - Guide to the Elements" (PDF). Scottish Place Name Society - The Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  14. Johnston, James B (1892). Place-names of Scotland. Edinburgh, Scotland: D Douglas. p. 162.
  15. |url=https://archive.org/stream/placenamesofscot00johnuoft/placenamesofscot00johnuoft_djvu.txt |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
  16. http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/2127/name/Longannet+Point+Tulliallan+Fife
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