Caer
Encyclopedia
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, caer means "fortress", "fort" or "citadel"/"castle".
Caer is the Welsh name for the city of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, situated in northwest England. It also forms, as a prefix, the Welsh equivalent of -caster, -cester and -chester in place names
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
. The English word derives from Latin castrum "fortified post", more common in the plural castra meaning "military camp
Military camp
A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent facility for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large campsites. In the Roman era the military camp had highly...
" and is the equivalent of castell (castle) in Welsh. The word caer itself derives from the Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
word *kagro-, as does the word cae (modern Welsh for "field", i.e. an enclosed piece of land).
Examples in Wales include:
- CaerdyddCardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
(originally Caerdyf) - Fortress of (the river) Taf; - CaergybiHolyheadHolyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
- Fortress of (Saint) Cybi; - CaernarfonCaernarfonCaernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...
- Fortress in Arfon; - CaerffiliCaerphillyCaerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...
- Fortress of Ffilli. - CaerwentCaerwentCaerwent is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and eleven miles east of Newport, and was founded by the Romans as the market town of Venta Silurum, an important settlement of the Brythonic Silures tribe. The modern village is built...
- fortress of Gwent.
England
Examples of Welsh "Caer" names as exonyms for English cities:- Caerfuddai - Chichester;
- Caergaint - Canterbury;
- Caergrawnt - Cambridge;
- Caerhirfryn - Lancaster;
- Caerliwelydd - Carlisle;
- Caerloyw - Gloucester;
- Caerlwytgoed - Lichfield;
- Caerlŷr - Leicester;
- Caersallog - Salisbury;
- Caerwrangon - Worcester;
- Caerwynt - Winchester;
- Caerwysg - Exeter
Scotland
Southern Scotland contains many placenames with a "Caer" element, toponymic remnants of the Kingdoms of Yr Hen Ogledd. Some examples are:- CarridenCarriden HouseCarriden House is a mansion in the parish of Bo'ness and Carriden, in the Falkirk council area, east central Scotland. It is located east of Bo'ness, and north-east of Linlithgow, in the former county of West Lothian. The earliest part of the house is an early 17th-century tower house, which was...
-fort of Eidyn. FalkirkFalkirk (council area)Falkirk is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife and Clackmannanshire... - CaerlaverockCaerlaverockCaerlaverock is an area to the south of Dumfries and to the west of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.Caerlaverock NNR is a National Nature Reserve in the care of Scottish Natural Heritage....
-fort of LlywarchLlywarch HenLlywarch Hen was a 6th-century prince of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a ruling family in the Hen Ogledd or 'Old North' of Britain...
. DumfriesshireDumfriesshireDumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries... - CramondCramondCramond is a seaside village now part of suburban Edinburgh, Scotland, located in the north-west corner of the city at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth....
-Caer Almond, Fort on the river Almond. City of Edinburgh - CaerlanrigCaerlanrigCaerlanrig - also spelled 'Carlenrig' - is a hamlet in the parish of Cavers, Borders, Scotland, lying on the River Teviot, 6 miles north east of that river's source, and 10 miles south west of Hawick.-Etymology:...
-fort in the glade/clearing. RoxburghshireRoxburghshireRoxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfries to the west, Selkirk to the north-west, and Berwick to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumbria and Northumberland in England.It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh... - Carfrae-fort on the brae. East LothianEast LothianEast Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
and BerwickshireBerwickshireBerwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482... - CardronaCardronaCardrona can refer to:*Cardrona, New Zealand - a locality between Wanaka and Queenstown*Cardrona Alpine Resort - a ski field close to Cardrona*Cardrona, Scottish Borders - a village in the Scottish Borders...
-fort of Ronan. Peebleshire