Ridlington
Major Settlement in the Parish of Ridlington
Historical Forms
- Redlinctune 1086 DB
- Redlincton' 1275 RH
- Redelington', Redelyngton' 1257 Cl 1265 Misc 1286 Ass 1327 SR 1422 Fine
- Redelinton, Redelynton 1266 For 1316 FA
- Reddelinton' 1220 Cur 1226 ClR
- Reddillinton 1265 Misc
- Redlington', Redlyngton' 1227 ClR 1286 Ass 1329,1371 FF 1505 Pat
- Redlinton', Redlynton' 1225 ClR 1373 Pat
- Rydelington', Ridelington', Ridelyngton' 1253 Pat 1264 RGrav 1286 Ass 1290 FF 1332 Pat 1428 Fine
- Ridilington' 1254 Val
- Ridelinctona 1209–19 RHug
- Rydelinton, Ridelinton, Ridelynton 1167 P 1217 ClR 1296 For
- Riddelynton 1315 Ipm
- Rydlington(e), Ridlington(e), Ridlyngton(e) 1209–19,1221 RHug 1437 Peake
Etymology
'The estate called after or associated with Rēdel', v. -ingtūn , cf. Ridlington Nf and Rillington YE 138. An OE pers.n. Rēdel is unrecorded but this would be the normal Anglian form of the recorded Rǣdel , with the vowel eventually shortening to e before dl .Rēdel is a shortened form of dithematic names in Rǣd -/Rēd -.Names in -ingtūn may well belong to the eighth and ninth centuries.The type of place-name formation appears to represent politically a manorial structure in which a king's thane, perhaps based at a royal centre, held estates on which he was not always resident. Here the estate was associated with or named from Rēdel, who perhaps resided at an Anglian court at Hambleton. Ridlington is a royal vill in DB, having seven unnamed attached outliers. The other royal vills in the Martinsley Hundred were Oakham with five berewicks and Hambleton itself with seven. Ridlington is sited on the attractive soils of the Northampton Sands formation. At SK 845 026 in the village is an unexcavated defended enclosure surrounded by substantial surviving ditches. It may have been an Anglo-Saxon stronghold.