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 | Anglo Saxon History |  | |
| | Places containing the snippet Hythe |
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My current theory on Saxon Place Names
In 2000 I was looking at the place names around Hastings, which all appear to be Saxon, with a very few exceptions, and wondered what they meant.
My research lead me to conclude that this area was settled between the take over of Kent by Henghest and Horsa, and the take over of the South Downs area by Aelle, so around 465AD, and was settled by the Saxons.
If you are interested in this invasion please take a look at The sequence of the Saxon Invasion
As a lot of villages have similar snippets in their name and I wondered if each of these meant something, and that this in turn might mean that the settlement names described the use or surroundings of a place.
I am not a historian, so until 2026 I had not come across the Gelling-Cole Hypothesis, but this seems to fit well with my stuff. I have also in 2026 found an academic document written by Dr Robert Higgs from the 'The Journal of Coastal Research' which discusses sea levels in early Saxon times, this also fits my research.
So what could these snippets mean ??
My conclusions may seem surprising but please read Places containing the snippet æg meaning island before reading any other snippet pages as this explains the reason for the '4.5 metre line' described in other snippets.
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| Saxon place names containing hythe/hithe/hyde (hyð) |
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This originates from the Saxon word hyð where the ð is pronounced th so sounded like 'hieth', however it could also be spelt hyþ due to the two following two similar Saxon characters
Eth Ð(upper Case) ð(lower case) Pronounced th as in then
Thorn Þ(upper case) þ(lower case) Pronounced th as in thin
This also means that over time we also have the possibility of hythe, hithe and hyde if Eth was used to write the name, and other derivations such as ryde.
The definition of hythe from the Anglo Saxon Dictionary
'A HITHE, or place that receives the ship, etc., on its landing; a low shore, fit to be a landing place for boats, etc.,a port, haven'
hyþe, where bootys ryve to londe, or stonde stacio. Hithe occurs in the names of seaports, and also landing-places on rivers, far from the coast, ,Rotherhithe (hrýðra hýð) the place where oxen were landed; Clayhithe, near Cambridge; Erith (Eárhýd), in Kent and Cambridge, Queenhithe (Cwénhýð).
| | The hyð`s where are they |
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The list below is not exhaustive but provides a good starting point
- Beckhithe - Norfolk (bec hyð) meaning 'the port by the stream'
- Broad Hythe - Moray (bræd hyð) meaning 'the broad port'
- Bulverhythe - East Sussex (burgh wær hyð) meaning 'the port of the hill/fort people'
- Clayhithe - Cambridgeshire (clæg hyð) meaning 'the clay port'
- Covehithe - Suffolk (cofa hyð) meaning 'the cove/cave port'
- Downham Hythe - Cambridgeshire (dun hamm hyð) meaning 'the valley port by the hillfort/hill'
- Egham Hythe - Surrey (æg hamm hyð) meaning 'the valley port on the island'
- Erith - London (eár hyð) meaning 'the port on the sea'
- Greenhithe - Kent (grene hyð) meaning 'the grassy port'
- Hythe - Kent (hyð) meaning 'the port'
- Hythe - Hampshire (hyð) meaning 'the port'
- Hythe End - Windsor (hyð end) meaning 'the port of old'
- Lambeth - Surrey (lamb hyð) meaning 'the port of lambs'
- Methwold Hythe - Norfolk (mæþ wold hyð) meaning 'the mowing port by the high forest'
- New Hythe - Kent (niwe hyð) meaning 'the newer port'
- Portknockie Hythe - Moray (port chnocaidh hyð) meaning
'port(probably added when the meaning of hyð was lost) the hilly port'
- Rotherhithe - London (hrýðra hýð) meaning 'the oxen port'
or ( róðer hýð) meaning 'the rowers port'
- Queenhithe - London (Cwén hyð) meaning 'the queens port'
- Smallhythe - Kent (smæl hyð) meaning 'the small port - possibly the secondary port'
- The Hythe - Essex (hyð) meaning 'the port'
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Map of the hyð`s
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This map shows the location of Hythes shown in maroon, hithes shown in red and eth's shown in orange. They seem to be random throughout the country.
Click on map for larger image
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Map of the hyð`s with the 4.5 metre high tide
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This map shows the location of Hythes shown in maroon, hithes shown in red and eth's shown in orange with the high tide level shown. Now they all seem to be on the coastline, or major rivers.
Click on map for larger image
| | My Conclusion |
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If you look at the locations on the maps you will see there are very few, and although being described in the Anglo Saxon Dictionary as a port, there are very few.
They are all located on the coast or on major rivers.
These are mostly one per county, so I believe these may have been the first landing places that the Saxon tribes that settled those counties made.
So my definition is that these were the starting(first landing) points for the individual Saxon tribes.
| | Hyð the starting(first landing) points for the individual Saxon tribes. |
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Local Interest
Just click an image |
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![Location of hythes etc on a map of England](javascript:launch_resize("/images/DbImages/hythes1.png"))
![Location of hythes etc on a map of England](javascript:launch_resize("/images/DbImages/hythes2.png"))
