Two antiquarian papers, claimed the name of Lichfield was a Celtic-Anglo-Saxon hybrid with Lich derived from the Celtic word Luitcoit meaning grey wood (it had also been applied to the Roman site of Letocetum).[1] The early church site could have been open land near to a grey or brown wood, the colour indicating the predominant species or perhaps denoting lichen-covered trees[2]. The University of Nottingham ‘Key to English Place Names’ described Lichfield as a grey wood but using lēto as a British prefix for grey and cē,d as primitive Welsh for forest or wood coming together to give Lyccid. Six references are given[3] It has been argued a grey wood could be applied to Letocetum, but not to Lichfield.[4] It has also been pointed out Lichfield could not have been a Welsh settlement in the mid-seventh century[5]. It is possible this etymological explanation applied to a settlement name before the seventh century, but such a settlement has still to be established. Johnson conjectured whether Lichfield was a toponym that began as an area-name and became a later settlement-name.[6]
There
is a difficulty believing the most significant feature for the site was a grey
wood. Many antiquarian derivations emphasised the watery nature of the area. Litchfield in 1776 was described as built in the middle of a bog. [7]
Indeed, many antiquarians connected Lich to the Old English
words lǽce meaning leech, lecce meaning water and lacu indicating
a pool, pond or lake.[8] If feld meant an area inhabited, the
name becomes ‘little water place’ or ‘little lake town’.[9]
From Rawson 1840
Clearly, there are queries about the current etymology for Lichfield, but it will take time for the alternative origin in which a Mercian king (Wulfhere), attendant bishop (Wilfrid) and a distant scribe (Bede) used an adjective to describe the status of the early Christian Church site and not some vague topological feature.
It is time to recognise three Christians gave the name which eventually became Lichfield.
[1]
H. Bradley, ‘Etocetum or Letocetum’, The Academy, 30, (1886). 294; H. Bradley,
‘The etymology of Lichfield’, The Academy, 36, (1889) 305–306.
[2]
D. Horovitz, D. A survey and analysis of the place names of Staffordshire. Unpub.
PH.D. thesis University of Nottingham, (2003), 27. A grey-brown wood was first
suggested by A. L. F. Rivet and C. Smith, The place-names of Roman Britain (Princeton:
1979), 386–387.
[3]
V. Watts, Cambridge dictionary of English place-names (Cambridge: 2007), 372; R. Coates, A. Breeze and D. Horovitz, Celtic voices. English places:
Studies of the Celtic impact on place names in England ( Donington: 2000),
335; E.
Ekwall, The concise Oxford
dictionary of English place-names (Oxford: 1960), 297: K. Cameron, A dictionary of Lincolnshire place-names (Nottingham:
English place-name Society:1998), 223, 275: A. D. Mills, A dictionary of English place-names (Oxford: 1991), 298 and M. Gelling, Signposts to the past (Bognor
Regis: 2010), 57, 100–1.
[4]
J. Gould, 'Caer Lwytgoed: its
significance in early medieval documents',
Transactions of South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical
Society, 1991-1992, (1993), 33, 7–8.
[5]
W. H. Duignan, Notes on Staffordshire Place Names (Oxford: 1902).
[6]
D. Johnson, 'Lichfield and St
Amphibalus: the story of a legend', South Staffordshire Archaeological and
Historical Society Transactions 1986--1987, (1988), XXVIII,1.
[7]
W. Stukeley, W, Itinerarium Curiosum: or an account of the antiquities and
remarkable curiosities in nature and art observed in travels through Great
Britain (London: 1776), 61.
[8]
T. Harwood, The history and antiquities of the church and city of Lichfield (London:
1806), 2.