Llan (placename)


Llan and its variants are a common element of Celtic placenames in the British Isles and Brittany, especially of Welsh toponymy. In Welsh the name of a local saint or a geomorphological description follows the Llan morpheme to form a single word: for example Llanfair is the parish or settlement around the church of . Goidelic toponyms end in -lann.
The various forms of the word are distantly cognate with English land and lawn and presumably initially denoted a specially cleared and enclosed area of land. In late antiquity it came to be applied particularly to the sanctified land occupied by communities of Christian converts. It is part of the name of more than 630 locations in Wales and nearly all have some connection with a local patron saint. These were usually the founding saints of the parish, relatives of the ruling families who invaded Wales during the early Middle Ages. The founder of a new llan was obliged to reside at the site and to eat only once a day, each time taking a bit of bread and an egg and drinking only water and milk. This lasted for forty days, Sundays excepted, after which the land was considered sanctified for ever. The typical llan employed or erected a circular or oval embankment with a protective stockade, surrounded by wooden or stone huts. Unlike Saxon practice, these establishments were not chapels for the local lords but almost separate tribes, initially some distance away from the secular community. Over time, however, it became common for prosperous communities to become either monasteries forbidden to lay residents or fully secular communities controlled by the local lord.
In the later Middle Ages llan also came to denote entire parishes, both as an ecclesiastical region and as a subdivision of a commote or hundred.

Place names in Wales

Places named after saints

Place names with religious connections other than a saint

Place names without a religious connection

Place names in counties bordering Wales

Furthermore, some Welsh exonyms for English settlements contain the element llan, these include:Llancrug, HerefordshireLlanllieni, HerefordshireLlantiuoi, Herefordshire

Uncertain of origin

Place names in Cornwall

Places named after saints

Place names with religious connections other than a saint

Place names without a religious connection

  • Landrevik, Landrivick, originally Hendrevik
  • Landu, Landue, originally Nansdu
  • Landu, Lanjew, originally Lendu
  • Landuwy, Lantewey, originally Nantduwey
  • Lannestek, Lanescot, originally Lysnestek
  • Langarth, Langarth, originally Lenangath
  • Langover, Langore, originally Nansgover
  • Lanjergh, Lanjeth, originally Nansyergh
  • Lanjiogh, Lanjew, originally Nanskiogh
  • Lankarrow, Lancarrow, originally Nanskarrow
  • Lanlegh, Lanteague, originally Nanslegh
  • Lanlowarn, Lanlawren, originally Nanslowarn
  • Lanmelin, Lamellion, originally Nansmelin
  • Lanmelin, Lamellyn, originally Nansmelin
  • Lanmorek, Lamorick, originally Nansmorek
  • Lanmornow, Lamorna, originally Nansmornow
  • Lannergh, Lanarth, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Landrake, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Lannarth, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Lanner, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Larrick, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Larrick, woodland clearing
  • Lannergh, Muchlarnick, woodland clearing
  • Lansewigy, Lanseague, originally Nansewigy
  • Lanteglos, Lanteglos-by-Camelford, originally Nanteglos
  • Lanteglos, Lanteglos-by-Fowey, originally Nanteglos
  • Lantlogh, Landlooe, originally Nantlogh
  • Lantollek, Lantallack, originally Nanstollek
  • Lantyvet, Lantivet, originally Nantyvet
  • Lantyeyn, Lantyan, originally Nantyeyn
  • Lanyeyn, Lanyon, originally Lynyeyn
  • Lanyeyn, Lanyon, named after the Lanyon family from Lynyeyn

Place names in areas bordering Cornwall

Place names in Brittany

Place names in Cumbria

The Cumbric language was spoken in Cumbria and elsewhere in The Old North up until the Early Middle Ages and some place names in Cumbria and surrounding counties have a Brythonic origin.
  • Ketland. The first element is possibly equivalent to Welsh coed, "forest, wood".
  • Lambert Ladd. Compare Lampert below.
  • Lamplugh. The second element '-plugh' has been explained as equivalent to Welsh plwyf "parish", or blwch "bare".
The historic name Llan Lleenawc may have been in this region and named after either Laenauc, a father of Guallauc, or *Lennóc, a saint name.

Place-names in areas bordering Cumbria

  • Lampert, Northumberland, also spelt Lampart. The second element has been explained as an equivalent of Welsh perth, "hedge, thicket".
In addition, *landā-, the earlier Brittonic word ancestral to llan occurs in Vindolanda, the name of a Roman fort.

Place names in Scotland

Some place names in Scotland have Pictish and Cumbric elements such as aber- and lhan- that are cognate with those in other Brittonic languages. The Gaelic form lann also occurs, and its existence in Pictland may represent adoption into Gaelic of the Pictish usage.

Places named after saints

Places with other religious connections

  • Landis, Kirkcudbrightshire. Uncertain; may be of Scots origin.
  • Lincluden, Kirkcudbrightshire. The location of an abbey. The second part of the name refers to the nearby Cluden Water. The first part could also be lïnn, "pool".
  • Lindores, Fife. An abbey is located here. The name may mean "church at the pass".
  • Longannet, Fife. Occupied by a now-decommissioned power station. The name probably meant "former church enclosure".

Places with no known religious connections

  • Conland, Fife. Possibly meaning "dog-enclosure" or "grouping of enclosures".
  • Drumdratland, Fife. Exact etymology unclear, but the first element is likely druim, "a ridge".
  • Falkland, Fife. The first element in the name is unclear.
  • Lumquhat, Fife. The name may mean "enclosure of the wild-cats".
  • Lynchat, Inverness-shire. Meaning "wildcat's enclosure".
  • Pentland, Midlothian. The first element may be pen or pant.
  • Pouterlampert, near Castleton, Scottish Borders. The -lampert part of the name may share an etymology with the aforementioned Lampart in Northumberland. The first part of the name is *polter, an obscure Brittonic suffix.

In fiction