Welcome to Nonington

Nonington is a village situated halfway between the historic city of Canterbury and the channel port of Dover in the South East of England. Probably our most famous treasure is the Majesty Oak, the largest maiden oak in the UK and this can be found hidden away on the outskirts of the village.

One version relating to the derivation of the name, since there was no nunnery at St Albans is that it comes from a Saxon Chief called Nunna. The Anglo Saxon suffix 'ing' meant 'people of' and 'ton' (as noted above) meant 'place'. The whole name thus is 'The Place of Nunna's People'. Most village names are Saxon (5th to 11th centuries). When there is a landowner - name incorporated (e.g. Monks Horton); Wickhambreaux), as in Nuneaton (Warwickshire), it is usually later. There are 'Nunningtons' in North Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Somerset. St Albans was a simple manor or farm belonging to the monastery in Hertfordshire. 'Beauchamps' may be from a connection with the medieval De Beauchamp Earls of Warwick, one of whom held land here. The remains once in the ruins field, next to Beauchamps Wood, were of Eswell/Easole Manor, recently partly excavated.

Charles Caulson

Useful reference: English Place Names, Kenneth Cameron, Batsford 1961. P.133

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Find Nonington in the FRITH COLLECTION of Photographs

Guestbook from 30th October 2003 - 17th May 2004

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