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.

Greatham

Parish in the County of Durham

Etymology

The parish of Greatham includes the townships of Claxton and Greatham. The detached township of Oughton or Owton is dealt with under Stranton. In the S and E of the parish where Greatham Creek flows into the Tees the ground is flat and alluvial. Most of the rest of the parish which rises to 100' is gravel on a subsoil of Keuper marls. In 1850 the chief crops were wheat, oats potatoes and turnips. Saltworks were an important industry, VCH II 294.

Major Settlements