Gressingham
Gressingham was first recorded in the Domesday Book as ‘Ghersinctune’. It shows how, while some names could stay almost the same, some have changed in the intervening millennium – or were perhaps mis-heard by the scribe at the time!
Certainly by 1183 it was ‘Gersingeham’. Grassington in Yorkshire was similarly spelled ‘Ghersintone’ and both Grassington and Gressingham mean ‘grazing farm’.
Situated just up the hill from an important crossing point of the River Lune, Gressingham has some important stone sculpture dating from the 800s when this area was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. The stonework identifies Gressingham as a religious centre.
The photo shows Gressingham around 1900.