Radio 1 presenter Greg James found Deeping St James amusing - here’s 19 more funny Lincolnshire place names

From Tongue End to Fanny Hands Lane, Lincolnshire has its fair share of weird and wonderful place names.

The name of Deeping St James left Radio 1 presenter Greg James in hysterics earlier this year.

Pronouncing it as 'deep in' St James’ he branded it as sounding ‘mucky’.

Although for locals the name of the large village is rarely met with a chuckle, there are a number of other Lincolnshire locations that do raise an eyebrow.

Some sound rude to those with a dirty mind while others conjure up peculiar images.

There are even village names with links to comedians and a character in a hit rom com.

We have compiled a list of 20 from across the county.

Tongue End

This village is one which gets tongues wagging.

Tongue End, near Bourne, is said to get its name from the shape of the land between the rivers Glen and Bourne Eau.

It is a small village with Victorian red-brick farmworkers' cottages and early 20th-century former council houses.

Cowbit

The name Cowbit is from old English and means cow enclosure. Despite this, the name is pronounced locally as ‘Cub-it’.

Deeping St James

Deeping was originally the Saxon word for ‘deep fen’ or ‘low place’, while St James related to a church which was consecrated in 1139.

Bitchfield

Once listed in the Domesday Book as Billesfelt, at some point the village became known as Bitchfield.

The village near Grantham consists of two groups of buildings connected by Dark Lane, known as Bitchfield and Lower Bitchfield.

Belchford

The name Belchford conjures up images of someone who has had too many fizzy drinks standing next to a shallow stream.

But where its name actually comes from is ‘Belt's ford' or 'belt' used in a topographical sense for 'long, narrow strip of land'.

The village is about four miles north of Horncastle and its history dates back to the Romans and Vikings.

Old Leake

No, Old Leake is not a piece of veg found in the back of the fridge - it is a village near Boston.

It is first documented in the Domesday Book, where it is referred to as 'Leche', and later became Leake which is derived from the old English word for 'brook'.

Swineshead

Surprisingly pigs did not inspire the name of this village near Boston.

Swineshead comes from the old English word ‘swin’ meaning a tidal creek which combined with ‘heda’, the Anglo-Saxon word for dock or landing place, became Swins-heda.

Over the years this has turned into what it’s known as today, Swineshead.

The area was once a series of islands and people would move around in boats, many of which would dock nearby.

Folkingham

The correct pronunciation for this village between Bourne and Sleaford is Fock-ing-am.

It is an early Saxon place name and appears in the Domesday survey of 1086 as Folchingeham, which can be interpreted as the 'Homestead belonging to Folca or the estate of the Folcingas'.

South Cockerington

The name Cockerington is thought to come from a British river named Cocker, which has Celtic roots and means 'crooked'.

The village is located four miles east from the market town of Louth and dates back to the Anglo Saxon period.

Anton's Gowt

It sounds like a painful ailment a chap named Anton is suffering with. It’s not, but the likely origins are not that much more pleasant.

The word 'gowt' refers to a sluice or a sewer, which is where the hamlet in East Lindsey gets its name.

Dogdyke

The placename of Dogdyke dates from the 13th century, from the Old English for 'the dyke where docks grow'.

The River Witham runs through the village, which is near Woodhall Spa.

Fanny Hands Lane, Ludford

It is rumoured that Fanny Hands Lane got its name when land owner John Hands married a girl called Frances, nicknamed Fanny.

The romantic gesture of naming a street after a partner has been somewhat marred by the rude connotations held by it today.

Glory Hole

The High Bridge in Lincoln is famed for the name it was given by generations of boaters - the Glory Hole.

It is said that in the middle ages the bridge opening was called the murder hole, as bodies thrown into the river would wash ashore at this spot.

But it was changed to Glory Hole to improve the image which was conjured up by the name - although this has not stood the test of time.

In this day and age it's probably best not to look up - at least not on a work computer - but it once was a slang term used to refer to the halo often represented over the heads of the saints and Christ.

Sibsey is home to a Goosemuck Lane while Burgh Le Marsh is renowned for Cock Hill.

Butt Lane is a name that crops up across the county including in Louth, Boston and Walcott in contrast to the rather unique Creampoke Crescent in Gainsborough.

The scary sounding Wasps Nest is a hamlet in North Kesteven.

The district of East Lindsey is home to a Mavis Enderby, also a character in Bridget Jones’s Diary, and the village of Boothby Graffoe inspired the name of a comedian.

Boothby Graffoe, whose birth name is James Rogers, claims to be the only comedian in the world named after a Lincolnshire village.

Have we missed any? Let us know in the comments.