NO doubt some bright spark will take credit for it, although the truth is more likely to be co-incidence, but to build the headquarters of Worcestershire County Council beside the old road that used to lead out of Worcester to Spetchley village was a stroke of historical genius.

Because in the Domesday Book, the area we now know as Spetchley is referred to as Speclea or "the woodland clearing where meetings are held".

Singularly appropriate then that the main debating chamber for local government in this part of the world should be sited there.

Although, of course, it does encourage the observation they can't see the wood for the trees.

This little snippet of bar room info is included in a fascinating little book called Worcestershire Place Names by the admirable Anthony Poulton-Smith, who must have spent hours, if not days, months and years, trawling through all manner of historical sources to trace the origins of everywhere from Abberley to Wychbold.

"The vast majority of place names in Worcestershire come from the Old English tongue introduced to these shores with the coming of the Anglo-Saxons," he explained.

"Saxon or Old English as you can call it, was the main language in England from the 8th to 12th centuries, when it evolved into what is known as Middle English, which itself began to change into the modern form from around the 16th Century.

"There are also some examples of later Welsh influence in Worcestershire in the west of the county, because the border with Wales came much further east than it does today."

In fact at one time, the Welsh border extended to the River Severn at Worcester, putting St John's in the Principality.

Mentioning the Domesday Book, as I did earlier, Mr Poulton-Smith has some interesting observations on this revered document.

"That it is a useful tool is undeniable," he said. "But it should never be used as a defining source."

And then there came this lovely summary.

"Remember," he added, "the work is written in a form of Latin, the survey itself was carried out principally by Normans, who had their origins in Scandinavia and spoke a distinct dialect of Old French and the vast majority of the population spoke either Old English - a tongue which bears more resemblance to modern German than English - or one of the old Scandinavian tongues.

"The dividing diagonal across England separating the Saxons and the Norsemen meant Worcestershire was predominantly Saxon-speaking, all of which meant that those carrying out the survey could understand very little of what some inhabitants were saying.

"Hence, those who recorded the details were virtually forced to write proper names phonetically.

"Just as an example, consider if the grey squirrel were to be introduced from North America today and both the Americans and the English were largely illiterate. Despite the fact we would have the tremendous advantage of speaking the same language, we would be under the impression this previously unknown yet engaging rodent was know as a 'skwirl'."

So, bear that in mind when working out the history of villages like Kempsey, Himbleton or Fladbury.

Kempsey apparently comes from Cymi's Island.

"Although 'island' here is used in the sense of dry land in marshy ground," said John, "as there is no reason to believe it was ever entirely surrounded by water."

Himbleton appeared as Hymeltun in 816, tracing its roots back to the Saxon for "a farmstead where hymele grows". Hymele most likely meaning hops.

Fladbury was known as Fledanburg in 692 and Fledebirie by the time of the Domesday Book, both meaning "the stronghold or manor house of a woman called Flaede".

Eckington, which is the site of one of the oldest bridges across the River Avon, is rare among Worcestershire place names in that today it is nearer its original than it was in Norman times. Normally, the name evolves away from the original.

It's earliest known form was Eccyncgtun in 972, although by 1197 it had become Akinton. Today, especially in pronunciation, Eckington seems to have gone back to its roots.

It probably means "the settlement of the family or followers of a man called Ecca or Ecci".

Pirton has some solid Worcestershire connections because in Old English it was Pirige-tun, "the pear orchard" or "the farmstead where pear trees grow".

No doubt the Bennett family from Lower Wick, just outside Worcester, whose milking herd of cows has grazed Powick Hams for generations will be intrigued to see Powick in 1086 was known as Poiwic, "the dairy farm associated with the family or followers of a man called Pohha".

Although personally I don't recall a Pohha Bennett, I'm sure one could have trodden this Earth back in the days when Knightwick was Cnihtawice or Dormston was Deormodesaldtun and the monks with their quill pens drawing the AA roadmaps had a devil of a job.

n Worcestershire Place Names is published by Sutton at £8.99.