Camboglanna
Attested: Staffordshire Moorlands Pan CAMMOGLANNA; Rudge Cup CAMBOGLANS;
Amiens Patera CAMBOG###S; Amboglanna in the Notitia Dignitatum; not Gabaglanda in the Ravenna Cosmography.
Where: Castlesteads Roman fort at NY512635, just south of Hadrian's Wall, flanked by the Cam Beck tributary of the river Irthing, near Brampton, Cumbria. Part of the adjacent hillside has fallen into the river since Roman times and the fort was largely destroyed in 1791.
Name origin: The –glanna part meant ‘river bank’, with parallels in Cornish glann ‘bank’, Welsh glan ‘river-bank’ Nordic klint ‘coastal escarpment’, English clint, and Russian глинт, but not in Gaelic gleann and Welsh glyn ‘valley’. Compare Glannoventa (Ambleside), Giano (Martinhoe), and Glanum in the south of France. The Cambo- part is often likened to Welsh cam2, Irish camm, etc ‘crooked’, but it could also fit the Scots and northern English word kame or kaim ‘ridge’, related to Old English camb ‘comb’ (probably from PIE *gembh- ‘tooth’), which was a frequent element in northern British place names (Gelling & Cole, 2003), or to the word camber. Most likely, Cambo- is related to the Latin word campus ‘flat ground’, as explained here.
Notes: Modern geologists use the word kame particularly for glacial deposits and, as explained here, “extensive accumulations of sands and gravels, formed in part by glacial meltwaters, form highly distinctive hummocky country” near Camboglanna. However, the fairly flat ridge on which Castlesteads House sits, plus the wide open fields to south and east, favour the campus-like explanation, as does the generally straight course of Cam Beck on its western side.
You may copy this text freely, provided you acknowledge its source as www.romaneranames.uk, recognise that it is liable to human error, and try to offer suggestions for improvement.
Last edited 2 April 2024 To main Menu