We are indebted to Kenneth Cameron for these musings on place names:
[...] Similar changes are sometimes found in names which have, or are thought to have, improper meanings. Shatterford (Wo) means “ford over the Shitter”, Shitter being a river-name meaning “stream used as sewer or privy”, the basis of which is the word shite, shit “dung”. It is clear, therefore, that at some stage the association of the name with the word was considered improper, and the offending element was duly changed (26).
Source: Cameron, Kenneth. English Place names. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1961.
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| Fishing in Shatterford. Image from Gofishing |
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