| Summary: | The recent work of D. H. Green and others on the benefits of combining linguistic, archaeological and historical evidence has highlighted the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration to early medieval studies. In this context, the Whittlewood Project (WP) lays important foundations for future projects, both in the UK and elsewhere, which seek to understand local settings in greater depth than any single discipline could permit. The WP is a multi-disciplinary project, encompassing not only the research and analysis in this thesis but also the surveys and findings conducted by Dr Richard Jones (archaeologist) and Dr Mark Page (historian), amongst other scholars. The Project focuses on twelve parishes which straddle the county boundary between Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire. The general aim is to build a picture of its medieval setting, with particular interest in the chronology of medieval settlement formation and subsequent changes in the way that communities responded to and utilised the landscape. Chapter 2 presents a catalogue of Whittlewood place-name material, of which all names recorded before 1600 are analysed. The major place-names of Whittlewood and the surrounding area are investigated in Chapter 3. The band of parishes around Whittlewood adds context to the work solely on Whittlewood parishes; patterns may be further exploited. Chapter 4 draws from the minor names in this catalogue, weaving together the findings from the archaeological and historical surveys with those of place-names. This thesis provides a framework that can be used to aid future onomastic research projects with a cross-disciplinary focus.
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