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Philip Needham
| Profile | Posted by | Options | Post Date |
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Philip | Report | 18 May 2007 12:09 |
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I believe most of the English Needhams' get their name from High Needham in the Peak District - a clearing in the forest is a ham, and is in the middle of Needwood forest. Victorian dictionaries of Surnames suggest Needwood comes from a place where the needy could shelter, but this is a bit 'thin' (no evidence?). However, there is a gorge about 3 miles away known as Luds Church, and Lud was also known as Nydd (pronounced Need) and was a celtic god of the forest. It is possible that this is the derivation of the name, and it ties in with the Green Man of the Sir Gewain legend, adopted by the Romans as Nodens, and built a Roman Temple to him at Lydney. |
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