Ridgmont
Major Settlement in the Parish of Ridgmont
Historical Forms
- Rugemund 1227 Ass
- Rogemund 1276,1287 Ass
- Rychemund 1276 Ass
- Rugemunt 1286 Dunst 1355 Cl
- Richemond 1287 Ass
- Rugemond 1316 FA
- Rougemont 1349,1356,1368 Cl
- de Rubeo Monte 1349,1358 Cl
- Rouge Mount 1368 Cl
- Regmond, Regemont 1526 ADi 1530 LP
- Richmount 1527 LP
- Ridgemond, Rydgemonde 1535 VE 1549 Pat
Etymology
A Norman-French name descriptive of the sandstone ridge on which the village stands. There is a definitely reddish tinge in many layers of this sandstone. Similarly, Rougemont, the hill of the Norman castle at Exeter, is named from the rich hue of the New Red Sandstone rocks (MS note of Professor Earle), while Mountsorrel (Lei) is named, as Mr Bruce Dickins reminds us, from the pinkish granite quarried there. The later phonological development into Ridg mont has probably been affected by a desire to associate the name with the very definite ridge which marks the site.