Loatland Wood
Early-attested site in the Parish of Harrington
Historical Forms
- Loutelund c.1220,1286 For 1248 Seld13 c.1260 PipewellA
- Loutelond 1248 Seld13
- Loteland 1599 Recov
Etymology
Loatland Wood is Loutelund c. 1220, 1286For , 1248 Seld 13, c. 1260PipewellA , Loutelond 1248 Seld 13, Loteland 1599Recov .There can be little doubt that we have here a compound of OScand laut and lundr, 'wood.' The first element is a rare word in Old Norse, but is recorded by Rygh (Indledning 64) as occur- ring in place-names, and denoting 'a small valley, a hollow.'Sahlgren discusses this element very fully in NoB vii, 102 f. It is found in OSw as løt , and survives in various senses in Swedish dialect, the chief of which are (1) a small uncultivated grass- patch, (2) pasture-land, (3) sheep-road, (4) sheep-enclosure. The word is connected with OScand lúta , 'to incline,' and the original idea is a sloping and then a hollow piece of ground, later a piece of pasture-land, because such land was often found in the hollows. It is impossible to be sure of the exact sense of laut in this compound. The present Loatland Wood is on the top of a ridge with good pasture hollows on the northern slope. Persistent medial e suggests that the true form may have been lauta-lund , rather than laut-lund , with the first element in the genitive plural. Hence perhaps, 'wood of the hollows.'