Rivington, The Name
The earliest known name for Rivington was Ruhwinton in 1166.1). The name was adopted by the earliest family of land owners, who were step brothers to the Pilkingtons. 2)
Phoebe Hesketh gave the meaning of the name as 'Village of the Mountain Ash' in a book by the same name. To quote the author William Fergusson Irvine, “The mountain ash certainly does grow in Rivington, and it may at an early date have been the prevailing tree, but no evidence either one way or the other is forthcoming, while as to the second derivation all that can be said is that the village itself is not specially exposed to high winds.” 3)
The evolution of the name Rivington is most commonly a combination of 'Rov' or 'Riven' with ing from the Anglo-Saxon with '-ton' a homestead or village4) The etymology is detailed further within the section containing the full transcript of the Patent of Queen Elizabeth I. There had been variations to its spelling over centuries these did not settle until 1827.
