Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Hilton, Hylton' 1256 Pipe 1539 DRH 1540 TRMB 1635 Dep

• -Bacon 1334 Ch 1664 Hothf

• -by Langeton 1368 Pat

• Helton 1289 FF 1292 Ass32 1366 ChancM 1777 M

• Helton under Lyth 1279 Ass6 1292 ib

• Helton sub le Lyth 1292 ib

• Helton under the Lith 1323 FF

• Helton Bacony 1279 Ass19

• Helton Baco(u)n 1292,1315 Ipm 1330 Wyb 1663 Hothf

• Helton Bakoun 1323 Cl

• Bacon 1315 Ipm

• Bacon 1369 Cliff

Etymology

On formal grounds the first el. could, as in Helton (ii, 200infra ), be one of several words (like ON  hjallr 'shed'), but topographically it is most probably OE  helde 'slope' or ON  hjalli 'ledge or shelf on a hillside', though the early Hil - forms would favour helde ; Hilton is on the lower slope of Roman Fell by Hilton Beck. The affixes are from hlið 'slope, hillside', and from the family-name Bacon (Robert Bacon 1315 Ipm, Adam Bacon 1369 Cliff 330, cf. also William Bacun , witness to a King's Meaburn document l. 12 MdMb 310).