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.

Dilham

Major Settlement in the Parish of Dilham

Historical Forms

  • Dilham, Dillam 1086 DB
  • Dilham 1101–7,1140 Holme 12 CAcre c.1150 Cranf 1176,1287 NCReg 1198 AR 1198(p)to1286 Ass e.13 HMC 1219to1379 FF 1227,e.14 Bromh 1254–75 Val 1275 RH 1280to1394 Pat 1302to1428 FA 1309 NfD 1324 NoD 1326 AD 1328 Banco 1535 VE
  • Dylham 1269 Ass 1273,1441 FF 1291 Tax 1302,1402 FA 1440 BM 1441 FF 1473–5 ECP
  • Dilum 1222 Pat
  • Dillam 1239–43 Bromh
  • Delham 1275 RH
  • Dyllaham 1547 Pat
  • Dilam 1610 Speed
  • Dilneye c. 1240 Holme
  • Dilneye, Dylneye c. 1300 Bromh

Etymology

The first el. is generally held to be OE  dile 'dill'. The second el. is either hām or hamm . An OE  pers.n. *Dylla , weakly inflected and postulated by Ekwall in Dilton W and Dillington Hu (DEPN), might be considered, but the complete absence of early spellings with traces of a genitival ending tell against this interpretation (v. Studies1 33). Dilham may be compared with a lost name in the neighbouring parish of Worstead, according to Schram a rivulet: Dilneye c. 1240Holme , Dilneye , Dylneye c. 1300Bromh (v. under (b) in Worstead infra ). Here the gen. of a pers.n. *Dylla would better meet the case. Ekwall explains the form -eye , which turns up for ēa 'river' in later forms of several river-names, as due to a dialectal change (ERN 157, DEPN s.n. Eye R, Le).

The church of St Nicholas was rebuilt of brick c. 1825, except the round flint tower (White 478). Of the latter only the fragmentary base remains (Pevsner 121).