Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Rodowelle 1086 DB

• Rodeuuelle, Rodewelle 1086 DomesdayAbbrevatio

• Rothewelle 1086 DB c.1155 Dane

• Rothewella c1115 LS c.1150,1160–66 Dane Hy2 Gilb 1409 NCot lHy2 m13

• Rothewell R1 Ch 1318

• Rodwell eHy2 Dugdvi Hy2 Gilb 1409 VEv 1535

• Rodwella 1187 Gilb 1409

• Rowella 1130 P eHy2 Dane eHy2,Hy2 a1180 NCot e13 Dane lHy2 1186–1200 ib

• Rowellia m12,l12 Dugdvi

• Rowel 1166 RBE

• Rowell(') Hy2 LN 1180,1181,1182 P 1184–89 RAiv 1191–95 1196–99 1197,1198,1199 P 1201 Cur 1261 Cl

• Rowell(') iuxta Thuancastr' 1289 Ass

• Rowelle l12 Dane c.1200 RAiv 1202 FF 1203–6 RAi 1242–43 Fees 1304 Ipm

• Rouuelle l12 Whit 15

• Roeuuel 1157–63 Dane

• Rouhewell' c.1170 Kirk 13

• Rohewell' lHy2 NCot e13

• Rouwell(') 1212 Fees 1272 Dugdvi 1282 Ipm

• Rothewella Hy2 Gilb 1409

• Rothewelle 1297 Pat 1304 Ch 1312 Pat 1316 FA 1386 Peace

• Rothewell(') 1272 Ass 1291 Tax 1303 Pat 1303 FA 1304 Fine 1304 Orig 1305 Misc 1327,1332 SR 1335 Pat 1576 LER

• Rotheuel 1350 Ipm 1350 Fine

• Rothwelle c.1250 Gilb 1409

• Rothwelle 1540 Whit 1547 MinAcct

• Rothwell 1428 FA 1491 Ipm 1526 Sub 1535 VEiv 1557 InstBen a1567 LNQv 1581 Dixon 1587 Yarb

• Routhewel 1275 RH

• Routhewell 1276 ib

• Rowthwell 1539 LPxiv

Etymology

The forms above exactly parallel those for Rothwell, PN Nth 118–9, and Rothwell, PN YW 2143–44. All three names mean 'the spring in or by the clearing', v. rōð , wella , as first suggested by Ekwall, DEPN s.n. Rothley. The beck which flows through the village rises from a spring to the south. The persistent early spellings in Rowell etc. show AN  loss of the medial -the -, as pointed out in PN YW, and the persistent Rothe - forms indicate that the first element has -ō -, subsequently shortened. The spellings in Routh (e )-, also paralleled in both the Northamptonshire and West Riding names, are late and have no significance.