Old English wald, weald in place-names

Old English wald is a not uncommon term used in place-names and pre-Conquest charter boundary clauses. The interpretation of the term is discussed and its association with woodland, together with brief references to other woodland terms, especially British * cēto and related terms. Some early recordings of wald names appear to refer to relatively large well-wooded areas such as the Weald of south-eastern England. Some area names, like 'Cotswold', are not recorded until the medieval period when the meaning of 'wold' was beginning to change and when some such regions were becoming characterised by more open countryside; the names, however, may be much older. The term was consistently associated with upland, often in marginal areas, and it seems likely that it originally implied the presence of considerable amounts of open woodland.