Ashington

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A former coal-mining town in the county of Northumberland in north-east England
2. A market and former mining settlement located in Northumberland, in the north-east of England
3. A town in the English county of Northumberland, formerly known for its coal mines and collieries

Etymology: Ashington is a town in Northumberland, and its name is English in the plainest sense: it combines "ash" with "-ington," a common Old English place-name ending. The "-ington" element comes from "-ingtun," meaning the farmstead or estate of the people or family of a named person, so the name roughly translates as "estate of the people of Asa" or a similar personal name. Many English place-names with this ending date from the Anglo-Saxon settlement period, and in this case the first element is most often read as a personal name rather than the tree. The town itself is much newer than its name. The original village was a small agricultural settlement, but it grew rapidly in the nineteenth century after coal was mined there, and it became one of the large mining communities of the Northumberland coalfield. The name therefore records a far older rural settlement that was overtaken by the industrial growth of the coal era.