Do You Know Your Funny English Town Names? Quiz

Answer: Pratts Bottom

The village of Pratts Bottom is in the London borough of Bromley. Its name is a legacy of the Pratt family, who were major landowners in the area in the 14th century. The village lies on the old London to Hastings road, and was a hot spot for highwaymen until they were finally weeded out in the 1830s.

Answer: Wyre Piddle

Wyre Piddle is a village on the River Avon, between Pershore and Evesham, at the point where Piddle Brook joins the main river. Don't even ask where Piddle Brook got its name from.

There is evidence of settlements existing in the area back to both the Iron Age and Roman times.

Answer: Amble by the Sea

Amble by the Sea is a small port in Northumberland, in the northeast of England. For some unexplained reason, it officially dropped the "by the Sea" part of its name in 1985, though most people in the area still know it by its former name.

The RMS Mauretania passed Amble by the Sea on its last voyage in 1930, and was sent a goodwill telegram by the local council. The Mauretania's reply was headed "to the last and friendliest port in England".

Answer: Booze Moor

Booze Moor is to be found in the Swaledale Valley in the North Yorkshire Dales. Booze is a name from Old Norse, and is a testament to invaders to the area from a bygone age!

Booze Moor features in many guide books as a place to pass through when enjoying walks in Swaledale. If you wander south from Swaledale, the next dale (valley) you'll come to is Wensleydale, which is famous for its cheeses.

Answer: Cheesefoot Head

Strangely, Cheesefoot Head is not found near the coast, but inland. It is a large natural amphitheatre situated just outside Winchester, in Hampshire, southern England. You must try and see it--it really is quite spectacular.

Various music festivals have been held there over the years, and during World War II, it was used to stage boxing bouts to entertain the American troops garrisoned there, ready to embark on the D Day landings.

It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, because of the various crop circles which are found there on a fairly regular basis.

If you enjoy traditional English country pursuits, then travel on a few miles past it and go to Warnford, the home of the wonderfully quaint and archetypically English cricket ground belonging to the Hampshire Hogs.

Answer: Goosey

Goosey is a small village in rural Oxfordshire, virtually half way between Swindon and the city of Oxford.

A large green dominates the village, surrounded by a scattering of houses, cottages and farm buildings. The area of the countryside where the village now finds itself used to be marshland, and "ey" is a common local way of enunciating island--suggesting a series of island settlements dotted across the marshland.

The current local church dates back to the 13th century, and the site was at one time occupied by Benedictine monks who kept geese. Thus "Goose Island" would have been shortened to "Goose-ey"--from whence comes the contemporary name.

Answer: Bo Peep

The earliest record of the rhyme about Little Bo Beep who lost her sheep is from the early 19th century. However, there are references to a children's game of the name "Bo Peep" from the 16th century. One of these references can be found in Act 1, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's "King Lear", written somewhere between 1603 and 1606.

A number of pubs around the UK have the name "Bo Peep" appended in some way, as does a railway junction in East Sussex (near West St Leonards Station).

Answer: Great Cockup

Great Cockup is a fell (or mountain) in the Lake District of northern England. At only 526 metres, it's more of a hill, or a bump in the ground, than a mountain. This comparative non entity-ness is confirmed by the great Lake District illustrator Alfred Wainwright who talks of Great Cockup in his "Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells" thus: "Viewed from a distance Great Cockup appears as a modest but extensive eminence with no obvious summit and nothing calling for closer inspection. First impressions are confirmed by a tour of exploration".

The name, slightly risque in modern parlance, is nowhere near as exotic in reality. "Cocc" would be a reference to the woodcock which is in abundance in the nearby "hop" - the local word for a valley. And it's "Great" because next to it is the smaller "Little Cockup".

Answer: Nempnett Thrubwell

Nempnett Thrubwell is a small rural village near Bath in north Somerset. It is about ten miles southwest of the city of Bristol. Its recorded population for the year 2008 was 189 citizens.

Within the town you'll find the "Fairy Toot" barrow, an ancient burial chamber believed to date back to Neolithic times.

The most plausible explanation given for the etymology of the name is that it derives from the Celtic "nemett" and the Old English "wiell"--thus giving the meaning "The grove at the village well".

Popular West Country music group "The Wurzels" have helped to keep the village in the public eye via their song "Down in Nempnett Thrubwell".

Answer: Morchard Bishop

Morchard Bishop is a large village, sitting right in the middle of Devon--equidistant from both the north and south coasts of the county, and in between Dartmoor and Exmoor. Many of the houses in the village date back to the 14th century, and the village has a working blacksmith.

It is an ancient settlement, originally called Morcet, or Morchett, from the Celtic words "Mor" (big/ large) and "Coed" (wood)-- large Woods. When the area was sold to the Bishopric of Exeter, it became firstly Morchet Episcopi, then Bishop's Morchard, before finally reversing the names to become what it is known as today.