Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Langedune 1086 DB

• Langedon' 1251-2 Fees 1271-2,91-2 Ass

• Langedone 1291 InqMisc

• Langedon 1364 Ch 1385 Pat

• Longedun', Longedon' 1235-6 Fees 1421 Cl

• Longedon' Botereus 1271-2 ForProc

• Langesdon' 1242 Fees

• Longesdon 1367 Cl

• Lungedon, Lundgedon 1284-5 FA

• Longdon 1294 InqMisc 1546 Eyton 1764 PR(L)

• Longden 1615,1783 PR(H)

Etymology

'Long hill', OE  Langandūn , one of two Sa examples of this name, which has become Langdon or Longdon in several other counties. There is a 400ft-high ridge athwart the north-south road here, which presents a smooth, whale-back profile when approached from Shrewsbury. This is a distinctive feature, as many of the nearby hills have a 'sugar-loaf' shape. VCH VIII, p.261, mistakenly says 'long valley', but it is clear from the spellings that -den only appears in the 17th-cent., and is due to a modern weakening of the final syllable, not to partial derivation from denu 'valley'.