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.

Riddlecombe

Early-attested site in the Parish of Ashreigney

Historical Forms

  • Ridelcoma 1086 DB 1428 FA
  • Ridelecumbe 1238 Ass
  • Riddelcumbe 1323 Cl
  • Rudelcombe 1324 Inqaqd

Etymology

This may possibly be from an OE  Riddelancumb , containing an l -diminu- tive of the recorded pers. name Ridda . We should have expected some forms Ridele -, but cf. Eagle Down supra 355. Professor Förster suggests that the first element may be a derivative of the Cornish word corresponding to W  rhyd , 'ford,' ell being a diminutive suffix in modern Welsh, v. Addenda, Part ii, xiii.