[Stones] Cerne Abbas Homer Simpson

[The Webmistress]

on 18/7/07 11:40 AM, Andy Norfolk wrote:

> A bit more on the derivation of Cerne. In Ekwall's Concise  Oxford Dictionary
> of English Place Names he says much the same as Mills but in more detail.
> 
> "Like Char, Charn, as derivative of Welsh carn 'rock, stones'. The form to be
> expected is Charn or Chern. Cerne is due to Norman influence."
> 
> In Cornish dialect carn means a fishing ground with a rocky or stony bottom,
> so it seems likely to me that the river Cerne had a rocky or stony bed when it
> was named.
> 
> Andy N

Which is presumably why Charnwood Forest is so named. A rockier area - with
innumerable outcrops in the fields - would be hard to find that would still
fulfil the function of a Forest.