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The History of Place Names in England and Worcestershire
Dr Mike Jenkins

A ground-breaking exploration of the origins, meaning and history of place names in southern Britain, The History of Place Names in England and Worcestershire throws new light on the people who coined the names and those who later modified them in waves of successive migration.
Dr Mike Jenkins’s extensive research is based on an integrated multidisciplinary approach; he collates evidence from: the study of place names, written history, archaeology, anthropology, the evolution of language, genetic population studies, geology and evidence of the environment and natural history of the past. Scenes and settlements are described as if the reader were looking out at them over the centuries from a well known landmark and this brings the research sharply to life.
In Part 3, Worcestershire acts as a paradigm for southern Britain as a whole. This closer detail allows Dr Jenkins to demonstrate the extraordinary potential that the study of the origins and meaning of place names holds for our understanding of the folks who lived in a particular area in the past. He includes guidance or a ‘history tool kit’ that the reader can apply to any county or locality of England, thus bringing relevant local history to your doorstep.
Published: Apr 2021
Paperback: 240 pages
Price: £11.99
ISBN: 978-1-913425-78-4

£11.99 (+ £3.50 postage)
Number of copies:



Available from Amazon

Mike Jenkins is a retired medical doctor and medical educationalist of over thirty years experience in both Primary and Secondary (hospital) Care. He has undertaken original research and published many research papers including leading articles in the British Medical Journal and other peer reviewed journals.
He has wide experience in writing, lecturing and the development of educational programmes. Over the last thirty years he has enjoyed learning, writing and lecturing on history, anthropology, evolutionary biology and genetics, natural history and toponomy. Indeed, this generalist role has been helpful in collating evidence from such diverse disciplines.

Writing on Shakespeare’s Walls:The Historic Graffiti in the Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon
Pamela Devine

Writing on Shakespeare's Walls
The Historic Graffiti in the Guild Chapel,
Stratford-upon-Avon
Pamela Devine
The historic graffiti in the medieval Guild Chapel in Stratford-upon-Avon gives a wonderful insight into a world where writing on the walls was routine.
Barely visible without a torch, it has remained largely unnoticed and unexplored until now, despite the building’s close association with William Shakespeare and his family.
The Chapel is unique within Stratford: no other building in the town has such a broad range of historic graffiti. It tells the story of the Chapel and its famous neighbour in a completely new way, shedding light on the innermost thoughts of the people who have come and gone from the building for over five hundred years, some of whom may have been Shakespeare’s family and friends, perhaps even Shakespeare himself.
Published: Nov 2020
Paperback: 112 pages
Price: £8.50
ISBN: 978-1-913425-20-3
Images: 60 B/W

£8.50 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:


Available soon from
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The Chapel’s medieval graffiti reveals the hopes, fears and beliefs prevalent on the eve of Shakespeare’s birth; later graffiti reveals the changes in the way the Chapel was used during his lifetime, and changes in belief after the Reformation as graffiti gradually became more about recording a visit or remembrance. The absence of more modern graffiti tells its own story, and reflects the different attitude towards graffiti in churches, particularly as the Victorian period progressed.
The walls really do talk!