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 Ridge, Ridge Fm, formerly The Edge

Early-attested site in the Parish of Wotton under Edge

Historical Forms

  • ondlong æge 940 BCS764 12th
  • le Egge 1243 HMC5
  • grang' del (que vocat') Egge 1291 Tax 14 HMC5
  • the Edge Eliz Surv
  • Rugge 1327 SR
  • (the) Rudge 1535 VE 1779 Rudder
  • Redge 1536 Monast
  • grange apud le Redge 1545 LP
  • Redge lane Eliz Surv
  • (le) Ridge 1538 Monast 1640 FF

Etymology

Originally OE  ecg 'escarpment' (here part of the Cotswold scarp).The later form Redge (and by popular etymology Rudge and Ridge ) is due to a wrong analysis of the affix in Wotton under Edge (supra ) as 'unde-redge' (Phonol. §45).