Rhestr o Enwau Lleoedd Hanesyddol: Launch of ground-breaking website listing historic Welsh place names

A new online register recording historic place names in Wales has been launched. The list, which already has nearly 350,000 location entries, will be regularly updated. The Welsh Government included the requirement for a statutory list in its Historic Environment (Wales) Act.

As reported in the Welsh Daily Post newspaper, Dr Eurwyn Wiliam, Chair of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, who have compiled the list on behalf of the Welsh Government said: “We are delighted to be launching this ground-breaking website today. The enormous value of historic place names is that they can record the sometimes forgotten people, practices, monuments or events of the past, fixing them at a point in the landscape.

“The study of these names reveals the legacies of past environments, battles, invasions, industrial and agricultural revolutions. They are a hugely important element of the historic environment of Wales and we hope that many people will enjoy using this new website to learn more about, and recognise the value of, the historic place names of Wales.”

The List of Historic Place Names of Wales is available at https://historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk/