Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Scelmertorp, Scemeltorp 1086 DB

• Schelmertorph 12 YDii

• Schelmerthorp 13 YDi

• Skelmer(e)t', Scelmortorp 12 YDi

• Scelmertorp 1195 P 13 BM

• Skelmethorp 1486 MinAcct 1554 WillY

• Skelmertorp 1243 Fees

• Skelmerthorp 1290 Ebor 1315 WCR 1378 YDxiii,51 1479 Testiii

• Skelmarthorp(e), Scelmarthorp(e) 1283 YDi 1296 WCR l.13 BM

• Skelmanthorp(e) 1316 Vill 1535 VE 1596 FF

• Skelmersthorp 1436 YDxiii,52

• Shelmondthorpe 1530 WillY

• Skelmondthorpe 1546 Hall

• Skelmonthorpe 1555 WillY 1608 PRThl

• Skelmotheroppe 1578 WillY

• Scelmeresherhe c. 1190 DEPN

Etymology

'Skelmer's outlying farmstead', v. þorp . There is a difficulty over the ON  pers.n. Skelmer , which appears also in other p.ns., Skelmersdale La 122 and Skelmsergh We (Scelmeresherhe c. 1190 DEPN).No such name is known in OWScand, but there is a Latinised ODan  Scialmerus , Sk (i )elmerus , which has been assumed to come from an unrecorded OScand  *Skialdmar (Nielsen 85, Björkman, ZEN 75); this Dan pers.n. is, however, now thought to be simply a variant of the common ODan  Skialm (gen. Skialms ) with the OScand nom. ending -r preserved (DaGP s.n.), as the two types Skelm and Skelmerus are alternative forms of the name of a single individual; there can be little doubt about this explanation of Skelmerus . Since the inflexional -r is not retained in the Danelaw, any connexion with ODan  Skelmerus must be excluded. Dr Feilitzen calls attention to similar Latinised forms in OS wed charters, Dagherus for Dag (r ), Ormerus for Orm (r ) and the like, where the nom. inflexional -r is retained, and to the fact that whilst Skjǫld - is known as a name theme in such ONorw  pers.ns. as Skjǫldulfr , Skialdvor , it is not a theme in ODan. Further, the distribution of the English p.ns. suggests a Norw rather than a Dan provenance. Skelmer is most likely to be from the postulated ON  Skjaldmar in this p.n.