Cardew NY342493

Cardew (NY342493), Cumbria (There is a Cardew in Cornwall too)

Carthew c.1287, Cardhew (Gospatrick Charter), Cartheu 1279, Cardew 1345. This is Caer Ddü “black fort” and is a late borrowing into English. The name appears first in Gospatric’s Writ which has been dated to 1067 by Phythian-Adams (1996) and OE /y/ must have been unrounded in this area before then for Brittonic ü (/ʉ/) not to be substituted as /y/. See Campbell, (1959: 100), Jackson (1953:311), where Jackson cites Forster's view that names that show borrowing from / ʉ/ such as Glendue, Glen Dhu must be 10th or 11th Century. The implication from Gospatric's Writ is that Cardew existed in Moryn's (i.e Morien) time which is at least a generation back from the Writ, therefore early 11th Century.

Cardhew also shows lenition which is not normally indicated in English renderings of Celtic names until Cornish and Welsh names are Anglicised at a late date. The caer  in Cardew appears to be no more than a fortified farm. Again supporting the idea that Cumbric caer  was similar in meaning to Breton ker  and did not necessarily mean anything as grand as Welsh caer.   In Welsh, caer means "fort, fortress, enclosed stronghold, castle, citadel…" with a later development to mean "any trench of an old bank is called caer" (Hicks, 2003: 69). In Cornish ker means "a round", "an enclosed settlement" (Hicks, 2003: 70). In Breton kêr means "ville, village, hameau, (villa, village, hamlet) (Hicks, op. cit.). Davydh Hicks cites Kenneth's Jacksons view that caer in Cumbric probably meant stockaded farmstead rather than anything as grand as a fort or city. In this they prefigure the numerous pele towers and bastle houses that are found across the area, built for defence by minor lords during later centuries.