Say it like a local
Norfolk spells its villages one way and says them quite another. Here's a field guide, so you can ask for directions without giving yourself away.
Stiffkey: is it Stew-key or Stiff-key?
Both, depending on who you ask and how long their family has been here. Most people in the village today say STIFF-key. The older, traditional local pronunciation is STEW-key, and it lives on in the famous Stewkey Blues: cockles from the Stiffkey marshes, stained blue-grey by the mud.
The name itself was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and means island with tree stumps, from the Old English ēg, island. Our advice is to say Stiff-key in the pub and order Stewkey Blues at the fish stall.
The names to practise
Stressed syllables are in capitals. Where locals disagree, we say so.
Walsingham
WOLZ-ing-um
Probably homestead of Wæls's people. Our own village.
Cley next the Sea
CLY or CLAY
Old English for clay. The village says Cly; dialect experts insist on Clay. A genuine local argument.
Happisburgh
HAZE-bruh
Hæp's fort. The most famously baffling name in the county.
Wymondham
WIND-um
Probably Wigmund's homestead.
Costessey
COSS-ee
Probably Kost's island. Cromwell spelt it Cossey in 1648, which would have saved everyone a lot of trouble.
Hunstanton
HUN-stun
The traditional local form. Hun-STAN-ton is the newer, visitors' version.
Mundesley
MUNZ-lee
Mul's or Mundel's clearing.
Hautbois
HOBB-iss
Norman French for high wood.
Postwick
POZZ-ick
Possa's farm.
Tacolneston
TACKLE-stun
Tātwulf's farmstead, mangled when a scribe misread a u as an n.
Garboldisham
GAR-bl-shum
Gaerbald's homestead.
Aylsham
AYL-shum older ELL-shum
Aegel's settlement.
Letheringsett
LARN-set older form
Near Holt, home of the working watermill.
Weybourne
WEBB-n older form
On the coast road beyond Cley.
Blakeney
BLAKE-nee
Black island.
Morston
MOR-stun
Marsh settlement. Where the seal boats leave from.
Great Snoring
As spelt, sadly
After a man called Snear. A 17th-century lord of the manor reportedly said he could sleep without Snoring.
Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells
Old English for spring. "Next-the-Sea" was added in the 14th century and only made official in 1956.
Reading the map
Most names are a person or a feature plus an ending. Once you know the endings, the map starts to talk.
- -ham
- homestead or village (Langham, Fakenham). -ingham is the homestead of the people of: Walsingham, Sheringham.
- -ton
- farmstead or enclosure (Morston, Wighton)
- -ey
- island, or dry ground in the marsh (Stiffkey, Blakeney, Costessey)
- -thorpe
- Old Norse for an outlying farm (Burnham Thorpe)
- -by
- Old Norse for a farm or village. A cluster near Great Yarmouth (Filby, Clippesby) marks Danish settlers of the 800s.
- -wick
- a specialised farm (Postwick, Keswick)
- -burgh
- a fort (Happisburgh)
- -ley
- a woodland clearing (Mundesley)
- staithe
- a landing place for boats, as at Brancaster Staithe
A few words of Norfolk
Drop one into conversation at The Bull and see what happens.
- bor
- friend or neighbour. "Ar yer orrite, bor?"
- mardle
- a good long chat or gossip (also a pond)
- squit
- nonsense. "Tha's a lot o' squit."
- on the huh
- crooked, not level
- mawther
- a girl or young woman
- loke
- a little lane or alley
- hull
- to throw. "He hulled the ball at me."
- hoolly
- very. "Tha's hoolly good."
- dodman
- a snail
- hold yew hard
- hang on a minute
- keep yew a-troshin'
- goodbye, take care
Pronunciations from Visit Norfolk; dialect from the Friends of Norfolk Dialect. Name meanings follow the standard place-name dictionaries, and several are best guesses.