Scunthorpe
Early-attested site in the Parish of Frodingham
Historical Forms
- Escumetorp 1086 DB
- Scumetorp 1196 ChancR
- Scumthorp' 1273–74 RA 1300 Ipm 1307 KR 1329 Ass
- Scumptorp 1245 FF
- Scumpthorp 1309,1311 KR
- Scompthorp' 1327,1332 SR
- Scunthorp' 1301,1306 KR
- Scunthorp 1382 Misc
- Scunthorpe 1557 KR 1660 Foster
- Skunthorpe 1402 FA
- Scomthorp 1450,1451 Cl
Etymology
'Skúma's secondary settlement, outlying dependent farmstead or hamlet', v. þorp . The first el. is the ON pers.n. Skúma . Scunthorpe was no doubt secondary to Frodingham, in which parish it was originally situated. Prosthetic e has been added before s + k in the DB forms due to AN influence.
In the Middle Ages Scunthorpe was in the parish of Frodingham. Iron ore was discovered in the area in 1859. As a result of the discovery of ironstone and subsequent smelting, what were five separate settlements, Ashby, Brumby, Crosby, Frodingham and Scunthorpe, became one large town. Scunthorpe had developed as the largest of the five, and so it became an Urban District in 1894 and in 1919 was united with the other four to become the Scunthorpe, Brumby and Frodingham Urban District (sic), and in 1936 the whole of the new Municipal Borough was called after Scunthorpe.