Courtesy https://axminsterheritage.org/local-history/introduction-to-the-history-of-axminster/archaeology/
Since writing http://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/12/uley-bury-and-arthurs-camlan-process-of.html, I have had good reason to reconsider the Cam Brook in Somerset as the most likely candidate for Arthur's Camlan. Archaeology has demonstrated that Camerton on Cam Brook and the Fosse Way Roman road was an important Dobunnic settlement that may have continued well into the sub-Roman period. The Wansdyke, which is now believed to predate Saxon occupation of the area, overlooked the valley of the Cam Brook. Despite the difficulty involved in the Cam Brook's original name (Camelar, Cameler [1]), given Arthur's father's origin in the Vale of Leadon, which had been part of the Dobunnic tribal territory, Camerton or vicinity makes for the best possible 'Camlan'. This is especially true if we are talking about a internecine conflict between two British kingdoms, with Medraut/Modred/Moderatus belonging south of the Avon. Experts on the Dobunni tribe establish either the Avon or the Brue as the boundary between the Dobunni and the Durotriges. The Mendip Hills lay between these two rivers and may have been a sort of No-Man's Land.
In "The tribes of the periphery: Durotriges, Dobunni, Iceni and Corieltauvi", in Iron Age Communities in Britain, 4th Edition, 2005, Barry Cunliffe says
"The apparent dual focus reflected in the distribution of pottery and coins suggests the presence of two 'urban' centres. The nother centre was at Bagendon [replaced in the Roman period by Cirencester]... The location of the southern centre is less certain but there is some evidence to suggest Camerton where an impressive array of coins, metalwork and Late Iron Age pottery has come to light over the years."
For additional discussion of Camerton, please see the following sources. I am currently trying to obtain Michael Fulford's "The Canton of the Dobunni" and, indeed, the entire collection of papers entitled "The Land of Dobunni" (https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Land_of_the_Dobunni.html?id=zjIqGwAACAAJ). If I am successful, I will add relevant material from that source to this blog post.
[1]
The entry on the Cam Brook as Camelar/Cameler from Victor Watt's THE CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PLACE-NAMES, 2004:
"CAMERTON Avon ST 6857. 'Settlement or estate on the river Camelar.'... R.n. Camelar + tun. Camelar, to-day Cam Brook... The name Cam is probably a shortened form of Camelar although it could represent PrW *camm 'crooked'. Camelar is obscure but might represent the Celtic divinity nam Camulos, Camalos + r.n. suffix -ra, -ro." Cf. CAMPTON Beds
CAMPTON Beds TL 1238. 'Settlement on the river Camel or Camelar.' Chambeltone 1086, Camelton c. 1150, Kamerton 1152x8... Lost r.n. + tun... The r.n. suggested as the first element may be compared with Cam Brook, Cameler -ar... on which stands CAMERTON Avon."
Note that on the Cam Brook we also find Cameley, Camelei DB, -leia 1156 Wells, Camele 1186, 1201. Ekwall says for this one 'LEAH on R Camelar or CAM BROOK.' One might also (as the town is tucked nicely into a pronounced loop of the Cam Brook) for the terminal being OE eg for 'land mostly enclosed by water'.
I was reading through Ekwall, Mills, Watts and anything else I could find on Camerton, Cameley and the Cam Brook, Avon.
I was intrigued by the Cameler/Camelar spelling for the Cam Brook. Lots of crazy ideas for it, including it being for the god Camulos (with a r.n. suffix).
Ekwall's Cameley as 'LEAH on the Camelar' resonated with me. I looked at Cameley on the map, and zoomed in. The settlement is nicely tucked into a fairly pronounced loop of the Cam Brook. So perhaps not leah (for the early forms Camelei, Cameleia), but OE eg, not here for island in the standard sense, but for land mostly enclosed by water (Mills' definition).
If we can go with eg for Cameley, that might suggest an original river name of Camel, which we have evidence for elsewhere.
And what about Camelar/Cameler? Well, there is a Welsh word llawr, used in place-names, and I am here pasting part of the entry from the GPC for this word:
llawr1
[H. Grn. lor, gl. pauimentum uel solum, Crn. C. lu(e)r, Crn. Diw. lêr, H. Lyd. lor, gl. solum, H. Lyd. (neu H. Gym.) laur, gl. platea, Llyd. C. a Diw. leur, taf. Gwened lér, Gwydd. lár ‘daear; llawr (ystafell, &c.); canol’: < Clt. *lāro < IE. *plā-ro- o’r gwr. *pelə-, plā- ‘fflat’, cf. S. floor]
eg. ll. lloriau (llawriau), -ion, ?a hefyd fel a.
a Gwaelod gwastad adeilad, ystafell, caban cerbyd, &c., bwrdd neu ddec llong; y rhan (o adeilad neu o ystafell) sy’n cynnwys y cyfryw (o’i chyferbynnu â’r llofft(ydd), yr oriel(au), y llwyfan, y seler(au), &c.), y rhan (o adeilad) sy’n gydwastad â’r ddaear; clawr daear, wyneb y ddaear, daear, trigfan dyn; tir isel, gwastad (dyffryn); gwaelod (y môr); math o lwyfan neu le gwastad ar gyfer rhyw waith neu orchwyl arbennig (e.e. dyrnu); hefyd yn ffig.:
floor, deck; main floor (as opposed to higher storey(s), gallery or galleries, stage or platform, cellar(s) or basement(s), &c.), ground floor; ground, face or surface of the earth, earth, the abode or habitation of man; low ground or region, low meadowland, floor (of valley); bottom (of sea); kind of platform or level space used for some particular work (e.g. threshing); also fig.
Notice the other forms, and the Celtic derivation.
Seems to me we could have in Camelar as a supposed river name a Camel +
llawr. With the loss of an /l/, we would have Camel-floor (a the valley) or the like.
This would allow us to fix on Camel as the original river-name, with Cam a shortened form of that. Camerton and Cameley both are from Camel plus an OE and a British or Welsh suffix and second element.
I asked noted English place-name expert Dr. Richard Coates for his opinion in this. His response:
"I would expect the ancestor of W llawr to turn up in unstressed position in as AS-period name as <lor>, but I suppose <lar> would not be outlandish. If that’s the word in this PN, I can’t imagine what the PN would mean overall. I’ve not met a parallel for river-name + a topographical term in British Celtic, but I guess it’d be structurally rather like Camulo-dunum and Caesaro-magus. It would be nice if there was a Roman villa with a Camulos mosaic floor here! The name could include Camulos, clearly, and there is a RN suffix *-ar-, as Ekwall says. However, *cam- is the most likely."
As it turns out, llawr is quite common in Wales, where it is often the second element of a place-name. See
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