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.

St Thomas's Hill

Early-attested site in the Parish of Pontefract

Historical Forms

  • Sancte Thomas hill 1558 TestLds
  • Gilda B. Thomae Loncastr' 1401 Testi
  • Capelle sancti Thome 1541 MinAcct

Etymology

St Thomas's Hill, Sancte Thomas hill 1558 TestLds 206. This hill was named after Thomas Earl of Lancaster who was beheaded here on 22 March 1322; a guild in Pontefract was also named after him (Gilda B. Thomae Loncastr '1401 Test i, Capelle sancti Thome 1541MinAcct 84), and a bequest to this guild in 1401 included the cost of constructing a stone cross instead of the wooden cross then standing versus Montem Beati Thomae juxta viam ducentem versus Bongate (Test i).