Little Smeaton, Hambleton Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Little Smeaton
Static Image:Little Smeaton Bridge over the River Wiske. - geograph.org.uk - 1218064.jpg
Coordinates:54.4269°N -1.4616°W
Population:50
Population Ref:(2015 NYCC)[1]
Civil Parish:Little Smeaton
Unitary England:North Yorkshire
Lieutenancy England:North Yorkshire
Region:Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituency Westminster:Vale of York
Post Town:Northallerton
Postcode District:DL6
Postcode Area:DL
Dial Code:01845

Little Smeaton is a hamlet and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.

Etymology

The name of Little Smeaton is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Smidetun, Smidetune, and Smitune. The first attestation of the 'little' element is found two years later in the phrase 'in litle Smithetun' in the Durham Liber Vitae; this element distinguishes Little Smeaton from the neighbouring Great Smeaton. The name comes from the Old English words smiþ ('craftsman, smith') in its genitive plural form smiþa and tūn ('estate, village'). Thus the name once meant 'smiths' estate'.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2015 Population Estimates: Parishes . northyorks.gov.uk . December 2016 . 11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220604015709/https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sites/default/files/fileroot/About%20the%20council/North%20Yorkshire%20statistics/Parish_mid-year_population_estimates_2015.pdf . 4 June 2022 . 9 November 2023.
  2. A. H. Smith, The Place-Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire, English Place-Name Society, 5 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), p. 211.