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.

Winter Shields

Early-attested site in the Parish of Askerton

Historical Forms

  • Winterscale(s) 1259 Laner
  • Wyntershell 1552 CW(OS)xiii
  • Wintersheildes 1589 ExchKR
  • Winter sheeles 1633 Naworth
  • Wintershields 1722 PR(Laner)

Etymology

'Winter shielings.' The name originally contained ON  skáli. Before the middle of the 16th century this had been replaced by the equivalent Northern English schele, which survives in the modern name.