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.

Tollard Royal

Major Settlement in the Parish of Tollard Royal

Historical Forms

  • Tollard 1086 DB 1166 P 1196 Cur 1198 Abbr
  • Toulard 1227 FF 1249,1281 Ass 1282 FF
  • Tollard Ryall 1535 VE
  • Toller Riall 1547 AD
  • Tollerd Ryall 1601 NQviii
  • Tollard Royall 1620 Recov
  • Tollerd Ryall alias Toller Royall 1671 ib
  • Toller oth. Tollar Ryall oth. Tollard Ryall 1763 ib

Etymology

This is no doubt a British hill-name, a compound of a word corresponding to ModWelsh  twll , Cornish tol , Breton toull , 'hole, cavity, pit,' and *ard 'height,' cf. Arden (PN Wa 11–12).Royal because John, Earl of Gloucester (afterwards King John), held a knight's fee here in right of Isabella his wife (Hoare 171).