Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Vindogladia, Vindocladia 4 AntIt

• æt Baddan byrig wið Win burnan 901 ASC e10 ASC 901 11

• Baddebir' 1244 Ass

• Baddebury 1508 DLCt

• Baddebery 1551 ib

• bosc' de Badbury, parc' de Badbury 1468 MinAcct

• molend' de Badbury, Warennam cuniculorum de Badbury 1518 HarlRoll

• a castelle now caullid Badbyri, but clerely down…now conyes borough in it 1535–43 Leland

• the warren of Connyes and Copsys of Badburye 1564 DLComm

• Badburie Castell 1591 DLMB

Etymology

Badbury Clump & Badbury Rings (ST 964030), Vindogladia , Vindocladia 4 AntIt, æt Baddan byrig wið Win burnan 901A (e10) ASC, 901D (11) ASC, Baddebir '1244Ass (p), Baddebury 1508DLCt , Baddebery 1551ib , bosc ' de Badbury , parc ' de Badbury 1468MinAcct , molend ' de Badbury , Warennam cuniculorum de Badbury 1518HarlRoll , a castelle now caullid Badbyri , but clerely down …now conyes borough in it 1535–43 Leland, the warren of Connyes and Copsys of Badburye 1564DLComm , Badburie Castell 1591DLMB , cf. Badbury Down infra . On the identification of Vindogladia , Vindocladia in Antlt with Badbury Rings, an Iron Age hill-fort, v. A.L.F. Rivet in Britannia 1 61, cf. RCHMDo 5 61. Vindocladia (this variant represents the correct form) is a Brit name meaning '(the town with) the white ditches', from * indo - 'white, bright', and *clad - 'to dig' or *clādo - 'that which is dug, a ditch v. K. Jackson in Britannia 1 81; this is clearly a reference to the chalk of which the hill-fort is constructed. The name Badbury itself apparently means 'Badda's fortified place', from the OE  pers.n. Badda and burh (dat.sg. byrig ), again with reference to the hill-fort, v. hring , castel(l). It gives its name to Badbury hundred supra . This name has several analogies in other counties, including Badbury W 281, Badbury Brk 362, Badby Nth 10 and Baumber L (DEPN); the three first of these, like Badbury Rings, refer to prehistoric hill-forts, a fact which led Ekwall (DEPN) to suggest that Badda may have been a legendary hero associated with ancient camps (the idea finds support in the probable derivation of the pers.n. Badda from the base of OE  beadu 'war', v. Redin 40, Anderson 130).However, the first el. of Badbury Do, and of some or all of the analogous names, may rather be pre-English in origin. Badbury Do, like Badbury W, has been identified by various historians (the first of whom was E. Guest, Origines Celticæ , London 1883, II 189), with the possible site of the battle of Mons Badonicus , in which according to Gildas the Britons won a resounding victory over the Saxons about the year 500 (Jackson 199, 202).Phonologically this identification is feasible, Baddan - being a possible anglicization, with substitution of OE d for Late Brit lenited d , = [ð], of a pre-English name. For an important recent discussion in support of the identification of Mons Badonicus with Badbury, v. K. Jackson, Journal of Celtic Studies 2 152–55.