Cannock Hill

Place-name:Cannock
Suggested Meaning:Gaelic ceann ‘head’+ Gaelic cnoc ‘hill
Place-NameCannock Hill
Suggested Meaning:Place-Name: Cannock + SSE hill ‘hill’
Blaeu Coila (1654):N/A
OS Name Books (1855-57):Cannock Hill
Location:Ordnance Survey (1896)
Early Forms
N/A

Cannock Hill

Cannock Hill and rock face with Afton Reservoir in the foreground ( Robert Guthrie 2017)

The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Names Book (1855-57) for Cannock Hill reads –

A high hill, bearing rocky pasture

There were two ‘Modes of Spelling’ of the name. The first, offered by John Craig Esq. (proprietor of Craigdarroch and Montraw) and the Estate Map of Montraw was Cannock Hill while the second, offered by Mr Kay, Dumfries House and the Estate Map of the Earl of Dumfries was Kinnock Hill. Neither of the maps were date and the local form Cannock Hill prevailed.

Map 1: Cannock Hill (OS 1856) | Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The landscape changed dramatically in 1931 when Ayr County Council began work on creating the Afton Reservoir with the Afton Water dammed at Craigbraneoch Hill and four years later the Afton Water Works were formally opened.

Map 2: Cannock Hill & Afton Reservoir | Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland
Cannock Hill and Afton Reservoir ( Robert Guthrie 2013)

Cannock

Gaelic ceann ‘head’ Gaelic cnoc ‘hill’

Micheal Ansell in his New Cumnock Place-Name articles in the New Cumnock News identified Cannock as Gaelic ceann-cnoc ‘head hill’ [1], from Gaelic ceann ‘head’ [2] and Gaelic cnoc ‘hill’ [3]. The element ‘head’ may be associated with the location of the hill, perhaps at the head of Glen Afton.

  • Cannock Hill (Robert Guthrie 2017)
  • Cannock Hill (Robert Guthrie 2017)

Cannock Hill

Place-Name: Cannock + SSE hill ‘hill’

The later addition of the place-name element ‘hill’ reflects that no one realised that the hill was already embedded in the name Cannock!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

References
[1] Michael Ansell, New Cumnock News, Autumn 2020, Issue 6 | New Cumnock Place-names: Part III
[2] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic -English Dictionary (Birlinn Edition 2001) |ceann
[3] Edward Dwelly Illustrated Gaelic -English Dictionary (Birlinn Edition 2001) |cnoc
Maps
Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/
Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857)| Cannock Hill
Map 2: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1945-1973 (1953) |Cannock Hill
Ordnance Survey Name Books
By Permission of Scotland’s Places
scotlandsplaces.gov.uk
Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Cannock Hill