You don’t have to go very far in Britain to find funny village names, nor on my own patch in the Cotswolds. One reason is that many names have evolved from ancient forms of English and other languages. Over time, they take on new meanings that bear no relation to their original designation.
For example, whereas Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter sound like villages you might encounter in a Hammer Horror film, they’re idyllic beauty spots, whose name derives from the Old English word “slohtre”, which means “wet land”. That meaning makes much more sense, given that they are set on the River Eye, and include a ford.
Memorable Cotswold Village Names
Other local village names that make me shudder when I see them on road signs includes Cold Ashton, which I imagine to have its own year-round chilly micro-climate (it doesn’t), and Waterley Bottom, which I picture completely submerged beneath some dire flood (it isn’t).
Every time I pass by, I wonder how anyone could want to live in a village with such an offputting address.
Hawkesbury Upton, on the other hand, is such a pretty name that over thirty years ago, when I was house-hunting in the Cotswolds, a signpost lured me out of my way to see whether it was as picturesque as it sounded. Reader, I moved there – and have lived there ever since.
Funny Names from My Past
I’d previously lived in Sidcup, Kent and Tring, Hertfordshire, both of which names I’ve heard used to get a laugh in stand-up comedy or on television. Not that I mind, when that’s done by the likes of Ronnie Barker and friends in Porridge…
Village Names in My Novels
So when I came to naming the village settings for my novels, I was not deviating too far from reality.
The pleasant Cotswold village that welcomes Sophie Sayers in my first cosy mystery series is called Wendlebury Barrow, which I created to echo the rhythm of my beloved Hawkesbury Upton.
The pair of villages that feature at the start of the Cotswold Curiosity Shop series are named to demonstrate the contrast between their populations:
- Great Pride is the posher, more aspirational of the pair
- Little Pride is the poor relation, but more affordable
Pride, by the way, is revealed to be a derivation of the Latin word praeda, which means quarry.
My third series is set at St Bride’s School for Girls, a boarding establishment within walled private grounds, but close enough to Wendlebury Barrow for Gemma Lamb to visit it now and again.
When I was asked to write my first murder mystery play, The Importance of Being Murdered, for my village drama group, I named the setting Bunbury. You may recognise the name from Oscar Wilde‘s play, The Importance of Being Earnest. The reference to Bunbury was one of a few Wildean Easter eggs I sneaked into the script.
After turning the play into a novel of the same name, I wasn’t done with some of the characters, nor with the notion of the Duke of Bunbury and his estate. So I gave them a new lease of life in the fourth Cotswold Curiosity Shop mystery, my latest novel, Death at the Village Garden Party.
I also wanted to create a down-at-heel hamlet of neglected estate workers’ cottages. Inspired by real-life villages such as Cold Ashton and Waterley Bottom, dreamed up Cold Bottom. If you read my story, you’ll discover that place is about as hospitable as it sounds!
For More About Cold Bottom
When local businessman Robert Praed buys Bunbury House from the dying duke, he gets it at a knockdown price on the condition that he also takes over the estate workers and their dilapidated cottages in Cold Bottom. His plan to win their loyalty by resurrecting the old tradition of the village garden party. Unfortunately, his intentions are scuppered when only one of the estate workers turns up to the welcoming reception and is immediately felled by a crossbow bolt fired from afar.
Alice Carroll, proprietor of the Cotswold Curiosity Shop, must use all her amateur sleuthing powers to find the killer to spare any more Cold Bottom residents – and to save Robert’s investment and reputation. Can you spot the murderer before she does? Find out by reading Death at the Village Garden Party!
Death at the Village Garden Party is out now in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook.
Order your copy here.
And Now: It’s Show Time!
Meanwhile, if you enjoyed my first cosy mystery novel, Best Murder in Show, and you’re within reach of my part of the Cotswolds, you might like to know that the village show that inspired that story takes place this coming Saturday, 29th August 2026. The Hawkesbury Horticultural Show is the longest-running village show in the country, and this will be the 140th Show. Find out all about it at www.hawkesburyshow.org.
And if you are able to attend, come and find my Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival stall, where in the company of some lovely author friends I’ll be signing and selling copies of my novels and promoting our next lit fest event, Mysterious Ways, which will take place on Saturday 26th September at St Mary’s Hawkesbury. Find out more about that and book your tickets via our Eventbrite box office here.
