Littleborough
Major Settlement in the Parish of Littleborough
Historical Forms
- (a) Tiouulfingacæstir 8th Bede
- Teolfingaceastre c.900 OEBede
- (b) Litelburg 1086 DB
- Litelburc 1215 ClR
- Littilburg(h) c.1190 Welbeck 1291 Tax
- Littelburge c.1250 Misc
- Littelbury 1255 Pat
- Lyttleburg' 1276 Ass
- Lyttleburgh 1342 NI
- Lutilburg' 1242 Fees
- Little Brough 1595 Wills
Etymology
In Bede's account of the conversion of Lindsey by Paulinus, many persons are said to have been baptised by the bishop in the Trent iuxta civitatem quæ lingua Anglorum Tiouulfingacæstir vocatur (Bede ii, 16). The Trent at this time, as later, seems to have formed the boundary between Lindsey and Mercia, and Littleborough is on the Mercian side of the river. It is, however, the only site on either bank of the Trent below Newark where there is evidence of a Roman settlement considerable enough to be described as a civitas . If the baptism took place at the point on the Lindsey bank where the Roman road from Lincoln enters the Trent directly opposite to Littleborough, it would naturally be remembered as occurring not 'at' but 'near to' (iuxta ) that place. Tiowulfingacæstir means 'the (Roman) fort belonging to Tiowulf 's people.' The name Tiowulf is otherwise unrecorded.
This is the later and more generalised name for the Roman settlement referred to above.