Thanks so much to all of you who have replied to my request for clarification on this matter - I'm a lot less confused now! Also the follow-up discussion has been most illuminating. Surprisingly Brandon (Suffolk) seems to have had 10 fields and quite a lot of waste. They operated an infield/outfield system - whether this was Danish influence or as a result of the majority of the manor having been in the hands of the monks at Ely for several centuries I do not know. I have been told that East Anglia seems to have had different field systems from the Midlands. A fascinating subject. Thanks again Kind regards Leigh Driver

> Surprisingly Brandon (Suffolk) seems to have had 10 fields and quite a lot > of waste. They operated an infield/outfield system - whether this was Danish > influence or as a result of the majority of the manor having been in the hands > of the monks at Ely for several centuries I do not know. I have been told > that East Anglia seems to have had different field systems from the Midlands. > Leigh Driver > I came across the word "ing" the other day, claimed to be the word for a meadow in East Anglia as late as the 17th Century. Does anybody know how common that word was, in England, and for what period of time? Is it a Danish word, or Dutch, or what? Gordon Barlow

>I came across the word "ing" the other day, claimed to be the word for a >meadow in East Anglia It is normally reckoned to be a word either for household or group, or small settlement, where said household chose to live. So Haddenham - Hadd/a/s ing's piece of real estate in a larger settlement. Bocking - Bocc/a/'s settlement; Dinton aka Donington or Danington - the Danish chap's settlement. I have not come across it as just a single field - only in relation to a person and his lot. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society

> > It is normally reckoned to be a word either for household or group, or > small settlement, where said household chose to live. So Haddenham - > Hadd/a/s ing's piece of real estate in a larger settlement. Bocking - > Bocc/a/'s settlement; Dinton aka Donington or Danington - the Danish > chap's settlement.> Not quite, the Old English ingas suffix element translates to "followers of" or "dependants of". So Haddenham probably translates to "homestead of the followers or dependants of Hadda". Bocking probably translates to "followers or dependants of Bocca" and would originally have refered to the people not to any fixed place or settlement. One thought on the Dinton etc names, would it not seem strange to find Old English name elements of C5th to C7th still in use in a Danish area in the late C9th. David Pott