Place name origins only have little relation to the Roman names (e.g. Chester - 'Deva', Winchester - 'Venta Belgarum' etc.). Many English places derive part of their name from the river upon which they were built, but in the 16th century many English rivers were renamed with back-formations from towns on their banks. Cambridge, perhaps uniquely, illustrates both effects: originally "Grontabricc", a bridge on the Granta, the name became "Cantebruge" and then "Cambrugge", from which the river was renamed Cam. The vast majority of place names in Wales are Welsh by origin, containing elements such as Llan-, Aber-, Pen- etc. Along the south
New England town left over when a particular region was carved into towns, not large enough to be a town on their own. Some appear to have simply been granted outside the usual town structure, sometimes in areas where it was probably not contemplated that towns would ever develop. Over time, those located in more populated areas were, in general, annexed to neighboring towns, or incorporated as towns in their own right. No such areas exist today in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, but some remain in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. All three of the northern New England states contain some town-sized