From Wetwang to Crackpot: Five weird and wonderful place names in Yorkshire

There’s nowt so queer as some of the place names in the county of Yorkshire.

Here are five peculiar examples.

Five weird and wonderful place names in Yorkshire.placeholder image
Five weird and wonderful place names in Yorkshire.
Blubberhouses: The name of the Washburn Valley village probably derives from an Anglo Saxon description of “houses near a blubbering stream”. Another and rather sad view is that it relates to the weeping of children as they trudged along the Washburn Valley at the crack of dawn to start their day's work at the local flax and linen mills more than 200 years ago.placeholder image
Blubberhouses: The name of the Washburn Valley village probably derives from an Anglo Saxon description of “houses near a blubbering stream”. Another and rather sad view is that it relates to the weeping of children as they trudged along the Washburn Valley at the crack of dawn to start their day's work at the local flax and linen mills more than 200 years ago.
Related topics:
News you can trust since 1754
Follow us
© 2026 Iconic Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice