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.

Midge Hole

Early-attested site in the Parish of Halifax

Historical Forms

  • Midghole 1714 WYD

Etymology

Midge Hole, 1697FGr 23, 1736FGr 5, Midghole 1714 WYD, v. mycg , hol 1 , cf. dial. midge-hole (YN) 'a small hole into which only a midge can creep, a very small apartment', but the name may well be equivalent to WMidl  dial. mudge-hole 'a soft boggy hole' (cf. Mudge Bank 226infra ), which, from a sense point of view, could well be a later local development of OE  micge 'liquid drainings from manure', cf. Midgley ii, 207. The name is common.

Places in the same Parish

Early-attested site

Other OS name

Major Settlement