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.

The Dams, Dam Lands

Early-attested site in the Parish of Hunmanby

Etymology

The Dams, Dam Lands (6″). Cf. Damside 1302 YI. This name, like The Dams infra 111, is used of land alongside a stream which may have been dammed at an earlier date. ME  damme 'dam.' possibly in the sense 'water confined by an embankment,' a meaning limited to Yorkshire, is recorded from c. 1325 (NED).Selby Dam (WRY), le Damme 1321 Selby, is described there as a stagnum 'pool,' and is probably an artificial canal or drain.