Place‐name evidence for the former distribution and status of Wolves and Beavers in Britain

Abstract

ABSTRACT Place‐name evidence includes over 200 places in England named after Wolves, but only 20 named for Beavers. A few places named for other wild mammals are noted, but coverage of these is less thorough, and is less certain because of either linguistic confusion or confusion with domestic mammals. In England, Wolf place‐names are most frequent in upland counties, but are not related to the counties which had most woodland at the time of the Domesday survey (as a nearest available date), despite the frequent allusions in the place‐names themselves to woodland. Most Beaver placenames are compounded with some reference to water, but are not associated with the fenland areas where archaeological remains of Beavers are most frequent. It appears that Wolves were still numerous and widespread when the Anglo‐Saxons (mostly) were naming our countryside, but Beavers were already scarce.