The steps of English history may be traced to a considerable extent by
geographical names. Thus the names of most of the prominent natural
features, the hills, and especially the streams, originated with the
Britons. They carry us back to the Bronze Age (S2) and perhaps
earlier. Familiar examples of this are found in the name Malvern
Hills, and in the word Avon ("the water"), which occurs in
Stratford-on-Avon, and is repeated many times in England and Wales.
The Roman occupation of Britain is shown by the names ending in
"cester" or "chester" (a corrupton of castra, a military camp). Thus
Leicester, Worcester, Dorchester, Colchester, Chester, indicate that
these places were walled towns and military stations.
[1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the Classified
List of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will be
found in the Index.
[2] As this Period necessarily contains references to certain events
which occurred in later history, it may be advantageously reviewed by
the pupil after he has reached an advanced stage in his course of
study.