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.

Gaultney Wood

Early-attested site in the Parish of Rushton

Historical Forms

  • Galklynt (wood) t.Hy3 BM
  • Gowteney 1611 Depositions

Etymology

Gaultney Wood is Galklynt (wood )t. Hy 3 BM, Gowteney 1611Depositions . The second element in this name is clearly ODan , OSw  klint , 'steep slope by the sea, top of a bank,' allied to the English clent , a hill-name discussed in PN Wo 279. The first element is ON  gǫltr or galti , 'boar,' cf. Galtres (PN NRY 8), hence 'boar-slope.' Gaultney Wood is on a fairly sharp slope.It is somewhat difficult phonologically to link the earlier and later forms. The final -ey of the modern form may well represent ME  hey (v. (ge)hæg), 'enclosure,' so common in woodland areas, and the place may at one time have been called Galklynthay . Galk - may have become Galt - by a common confusion of k and t sounds, while the original final t of Galklynt may have disappeared after n . Cf. PN NbDu (Phonology § 56).

Places in the same Parish

Major Settlement