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    MARLDON LOCAL HISTORY GROUP

    In last month’s Magazine you may have noticed that there was an article entitled “Toponymy” by David Whytehead.   No, I didn’t know what it meant either, and had to look it up, but when you think about it the “top” bit, as David says, gives you something of a clue.  David also said that the History Group might be able to help, and so Doug Pulle, our Chairman has obliged with the following response, all in the spirit of friendliness and spreading a bit of knowledge about our village and Parish.   So, here goes …….

    TOPONYMY - PART II.     David Whytehead, in his interesting article on Toponymy in July’s Magazine, suggests a derivation for the name of our village, Marldon.   It is a very plausible argument made all the more persuasive when you look up the word “marl” in the Concise Oxford Dictionary - “soil consisting of clay and lime with fertilising properties”.    Kiln Lane (it’s actually Kiln Road, but everyone calls it Lane) has at least three former lime kilns all of which produced lime to be used by farmers to improve the productive qualities of their soil.

    However, reference to the Oxford English Dictionary of Place Names gives us a slightly different slant on “Marldon”.    “Don”, it agrees, indicates a hill, but “marl” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word “meargelle”, ie “gentian”.     Thus, “Marldon” equals the “hill on which gentians grow”.   Long-standing inhabitants of Marldon will know that the hill rising up from Love Lane Farm is called “Blue Mountain”, which seems to clinch the issue, gentians being blue in colour.

    Other ancient names for Marldon are also listed in this latter dictionary as “Marledone” and “Mergheldone”, which add to the interest in this voyage of discovery.   I’m sure David was only too aware of the alternative derivation I’ve just outlined but, tongue in cheek, hoped it would spark off a reply.   Well, this representative of the Local History Group has obliged!D.J. Pulle.

    So, there you are then, and now you know!   Moving on, as they say, I am pleased to report that the Group were pleased to give a little talk and presentation to the ladies of the W.I at their July meeting, which we hope they found interesting and informative.  After a short talk by our Chairman about Marldon generally and the Group in particular, we were pleased to give a showing, for the first time in public, of the Group’s website.  Time didn’t allow us to show all of the content of the website - that would take some considerable time - but we were able to show a very good selection of the many different sections of the site including several dozen old and new photographs, and the ladies seemed suitably impressed by the scope and content of what they saw.  

    If you have a computer, you can spend many hours looking at the whole thing, just go to www.marldonhistory.co.uk.    Recent additions to the site include the final refinements to the Tithe Map pages, a section about our public footpaths, bridleways and unclassified roads, and the Parish Map produced for the Millennium.   Also shortly to be added are more memories and recollections on our Social and Oral History pages, so keep looking.    Having said all that, I must once again mention Mike Alcock, who not only set up our website but also maintains, refreshes and updates it, for which we are permanently grateful.

    Just a quick mention, finally, that our next Open Meeting is our AGM at the beginning of September when our Guest Speaker will be Valerie Besley, talking about the “Green Lanes of Devon”.  More about that next month, and on the Notice Boards in due course. 

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Marldon Local History Group : Life in a Devon Parish