along the coast in a north-easterly direction and ends at Portishead. The intermediate country between these ranges has been known for many centuries as Gardinu’ or Gordano. The name appears in the records in the thirteenth century, where it is stated that certain land in Gardinu’ was held at a quarter of a knight’s fee.[1] Later on we find a record of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, holding the manor of Easton in Gordon in the time of Henry VI.,[2] and others stating that Emma Neuton held the manor of Walton in Gordano, and that Richard Percyvale held Weston in Gordano, both in the time of Edward IV.[3] This district is separated by the river Avon from Gloucestershire, and among the thirteenth-century list of land-holders in that county was Thomas de Gardino, who held a knight’s fee in Side and Gardino.[4]
As we stand on the hills near Weston in Gordano the Steep Holme and Flat Holme may be seen rising above the water of the Bristol Channel, and on the coast near by are places called Blacknore and Capenore. All these are certainly Danish place-names. When we consider the strong evidence which exists of Scandinavian settlements on the Somerset coast and up the Wye and Severn, it does not appear unreasonable to connect this Gordano district with the Danes, and more particularly with that tribe of them known as the Gardene or Gardanes mentioned in Beowulf. Four places at the present time—viz., Easton, Weston, Walton, and Clapton—have ‘in Gordano’ attached to their names, the district name being evidently an old territorial one.
The name Winterstoke may have been connected with this Danish settlement, and derived from Winthr or Windr settlers, or Wends, who were allies of the Danes. In such a settlement some dialect of the Old Danish tongue, in which Wends were called Windr, would certainly be spoken.
