Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Lantport 1054 SAC42,76

• Langport a.1107 Lewes t.Steph France 1180 P 1279 Ass 1285–8 CplM

• Langeport 12th Lewes 1244 Ipm 1306 Inqaqd

• Lamport 1173 P 1204,1233,1268 FF 1567 ChancP

• Longeporta 13th DuLa

• Landport 1838 TA

Etymology

Usually one takes the element port in English place-names to be the OE  port, 'town,' but there was never anything in the way of a town or even a village street here. There was, however, almost certainly, a Roman harbour at the eastern end of the area bearing this name, and it is perhaps to be interpreted as 'long harbour,' port in this case being an early loan-word from Lat. portus . For the first form cf. DBLantporta for Langport (So).