Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Aldeneby 1164–71 CWxi

• Aldenestoun c.1208 CWxi

• Aldeneston 1209 CWxi 1224 ClR 1479 Hexham

• Aldenston 1285 For

• Aldenestun 1288 Cl

• Aldinston 1289 Ipm

• Aldeston 1279 Ass 1279 Cl 1371 et freq

• Aldston 1682 DKRxl

• Haldeston 1279 Ass

• Aldinistone 1282 Scotland

• Aldinston 1289 Ipm

• Alnedeston, Anedeston c.1293 AncPetitions

• Aldreston 1314 Ipm

• Aldeynston 1356 CWxi

• Aldneston 1479 Hexham

• Alneston 1517 DunBev

• Auston 1589 NCW 1705 PR(Barton)

Etymology

The recorded history of Alston begins between 1164 and 1171 with a charter of William king of Scots granting to William de Vipont a number of places of which the last three are Alrinton , Kirkheale and Aldeneby (CW xi270). In a second charter made by the same king c. 1208 for Ivo, William de Vipont's son, these places appear as “terras quas…pater eius tenuit in Tyndale, scilicet Alrington et Aldenestoun et Kirkehale. ” Of the names in the first charter, Kirkheale and Alrinton are certainly Kirkhaugh and Elrington in Northumberland. The identity of Aldeneby and Aldenestoun was subsequently contested on behalf of the king (Ass 1245, m. 71 (8 Edward 1). But the Vipont family and its representatives remained in possession of Alston, and the identification can be considered certain.

Alston, therefore, is an outlying member of the group of names in bȳ , of which Gamblesby, Glassonby and Melmerby are the best- recorded examples. There is therefore a strong presumption against an English basis for the first part of the name. Its most probable origin is the Old Scandinavian personal name Halfdan . Owing in the main to French influence, the initial H - of Halfdan is often lost in early medieval records. Most of the innumerable examples of the name in Domesday Book have forms such as Aldan or Alden . The almost complete loss of H - in the recorded forms of Alston is natural in the name of a place which was a demesne manor of a great Norman family.

There is a curious parallel to the interchange of tūn and bȳ in Alston in the early history of the name Holdenby (PN Nth 85–6), which appears in DB both as Aldenesbi and Aldenestone . In this case, however, the form in bȳ persisted.