England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, a toft village is a settlement comprising small and relatively closely packed farms (tofts) with the surrounding land owned and farmed by those who live in the village's buildings. Strips of land behind the tofts are called ''croft''s, by analogy with

Croft (land) A croft is a traditional Scottish term for a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenan ...

, with the resulting landscape pattern being labelled toft and croft.

Etymology and placenames

Toft occurs in late

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''toft'', with Old English declension (plural) ''toftas'' > tofts. ''Toft'' as a

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

element is usually dated to the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

by place-name historians. Placenames ending in ''-toft'' are usually of

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

derivation, ''topt'' meaning "site of a house". Examples from

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

include Habertoft, Huttoft, Langtoft, and Newtoft. Examples elsewhere include: Knaptoft, Leicestershire;

Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire Langtoft is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated north of Driffield town centre, and on the B1249 road between Driffield and Foxholes, North Yorkshire, Foxholes. According to the 2011 Unite ...

;

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

, Suffolk;

Scraptoft Scraptoft is a village in Leicestershire, England. It has a population of about 1,500, measured at the 2011 census as 1,804. It lies north of the A47 road east of Leicester, and runs directly into the built up area of Thurnby and Bushby to t ...

, Leicestershire;

Sibbertoft Sibbertoft is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population (including Sulby) was 343 people, increasing to 462 at the 2011 Census. The village's name means 'curtilage o ...

, Northamptonshire;

Stowlangtoft Stowlangtoft is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England south-east from Ixworth. Located around north-east of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 270. Name The village, originally just Stow ...

, Suffolk; Wibtoft, Warwickshire; Yelvertoft Northamptonshire and various places simply called ''Toft'' in the former

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

. This typical Old Norse element allows an estimation of the extension of Scandinavian settlements in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. For example, instances of ''-toft'' in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

include , Havetoft, , Goltoft, and . Examples of ''-tot'' in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

include Lanquetot, Colletot, Caltot ( Saint-Laurent-en-Caux), Hottot-les-Bagues, and Hotot-en-Auge.

References

Human habitats Landscape history Rural geography {{Geo-term-stub