The names which we give to places are very important.  It would be very confusing if we kept changing the names of towns or areas.  For this reason, place names tend to remain more or less static over time.

If we look at some of the place names in Hyndburn, we can usually tell a lot about the people who originally lived there or gave them their name.  The names of Hyndburn's towns suggest that the settlement of the area owes much to the Saxons; due mainly to the presence of many elements of Old English or Saxon in the place names.

Oswaldtwistle, for example, is derived from the Old English words "Oswald", a person's name, and "twisla", meaning the fork of a river.  The name probably, therefore, originated in reference to the fork of the river where Oswald lived.  This explanation can be substantiated by the fact that two brooks join in Oswaldtwistle.

The name of the oldest part of Accrington, Church, can be seen to come from the Old English word for church which was cirice.  This would suggest that there was a church in the area long before the first recorded church was present in 1296.

Accrington can also be seen to have Saxon origin.  It has been said that the name Accrington derives from the Saxon words "ak" (oak) "ing" (field) and "ton" (an enclosure).  The name could have originally meant "oak field enclosure."

A more likely explanation can be given if we know that the Saxons tended to name places after their owners.  We know that a Saxon name Aker, or Alker, existed and that in some places the element "ing" indicates "the sons of."  This could mean that another derivation might be: "Alker" (name) "ing" (the sons of) "ton" (enclosure).  It could have been the enclosure, or dwelling of, the sons of Alker.  This seems quite likely when we consider the presence of the modern surname Alker in the area.

The word Altham is indicitive of strong Saxon leadership in the area and derives from Old English.  It has been suggested that the name derives from "aelfet" (swan) and "hamm" (home of) and therefore could mean the home of the swan.  A more likely explanation would be "Aelfgeat" (a Saxon name) and "hamm" (home of), which would mean home of Aelfgeat.

The name Clayton also derives from the Old English "Clagh" (clay) and "ton" (enclosure).

Baxenden is thought to have been so called after the name for a flat stone upon which oatmeal cakes or bread were baked in an oven.  The original names for Baxenden were "Bastandenecloch" and "Bakstandene", the first element of which is derived from "bakestane" - the name for the flat baking stone.

Thanks to Patrick Collister for his assistance with this page.