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.

Bishop Middleham

Parish in the County of Durham

Etymology

In 1831 the parish of Bishop Middleham included the townships of Bishop Middleham, Cornforth, Mainsforth and Thrislington. Garmondsway Moor was an extra-parochial place. The parish lies almost entirely on the Magnesian Limestone and the surface of the parish is widely diversified by limestone hills and marshes. There are numerous quarries and former quarries. Limeworking took place in Cornforth in the 16th and 17th centuries and a coal-mine is mentioned in Cornforth in 1401 and 1454. There were later collieries at Thrislington and Bishop Middleham, VCH III204.

Major Settlements