English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

The EPNS and the Survey of English Place-Names

The English Place-Name Society was founded in 1923. Its principal aim is to conduct the Survey of English Place-Names, a county-by-county survey which explains the linguistic origins of England’s place-names. 89 volumes have been published to date (2013).

There are complete surveys for:
Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Dorset, Essex, Huntingdonshire, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and the three ridings of Yorkshire.
Volumes offering partial county coverage are available for:
Cornwall, Durham, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Shropshire, and Staffordshire, and further volumes are currently in progress for Cornwall, Durham, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Shropshire.
Work is underway for:
Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, and Suffolk, and though Somerset lacks a county Survey editor, a one-volume dictionary is in preparation.
Survey volume coverage

County Editors

The research presented here has been carried over the past 90 years by EPNS county editors. Their work is gratefully acknowledged, and their scholarship celebrated:

TitleEditor(s) Year(s) of publication
Buckinghamshire Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1925
Devon J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1931-32
Derbyshire Cameron, Kenneth 1959
Dorset A. D. Mills 1977-2010
County Durham Victor Watts 2007
East Riding of Yorkshire and York A. H. Smith 1937
West Riding of Yorkshire, A. H. Smith 1961-63
Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1926
Berkshire Margaret Gelling 1973-76
Cambridgeshire & the Isle of Ely P. H. Reaney 1943
Cheshire John McN. Dodgson (and, for part 5(2), A. R. Rumble) 1970-97
Cumberland A. M. Armstrong, Allen Mawer, & F. M. Stenton, Bruce Dickins 1950-52
Essex P. H. Reaney 1935
Gloucestershire A. H. Smith 1964-65
Hertfordshire J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1938
Lincolnshire Kenneth Cameron, with J. Field and John Insley 1985-2010
Leicestershire Barrie Cox 1998-2011
Middlesex J. E. B. Gover. Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1942
Norfolk Karl Inge Sandred (with B. Lindströsm) 1989-2002
Nottinghamshire J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1940
Northamptonshire J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1933
Oxfordshire Margaret Gelling 1953-54
Rutland Barrie Cox 1994
Shropshire Margaret Gelling (with H. D. G. Foxall) 1990-2012
Surrey J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton (with A. Bonner) 1934
Staffordshire J. Oakden 1984
Sussex Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton, with J. E. B. Gover 1929-30
Wiltshire J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton 1939
Warwickshire J. E. B. Gover, Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton, F. T. S. Houghton 1936
Westmorland A. H. Smith 1967
Worcestershire Allen Mawer, F. M. Stenton, F. T. S. Houghton 1927
North Riding of Yorkshire A. H. Smith 1928
Back to top

The Digitisation Project

The Survey of English Place-Names has been digitised as part of a Jisc-funded project, The Digital Exposure of English Place-Names. Project partners are:

The Digital Survey site was created by the web technologies team at The University of Nottingham: Shaun Hare, Adam Cooper, Mike Gardner, Ian Wilson, and Ian White.

How to join the EPNS

Subscription members receive free of charge the current issue of the Journal as well as the volume of the Survey allocated to that year's subscription and access to this resource.

For subscription and general enquiries, the EPNS can be contacted at:

Institute for Name‑Studies
School of English
Nottingham University
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG7 2RD
tel:+44 (0)115 951 5919
fax: +44 (0)115 846 7526
Back to top