Gillingham | Vital Football

Gillingham

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Gillingham means a ‘homestead of Gylla's family’ and was first recorded in the 10th century as Gyllingeham.

In Old English, ingas means family or followers and ham means village or homestead.

So combining Gylla, ingas and ham created the name.

It is also referred to in old texts as Jillyingham Water, hence the pronunciation of Gillingham now sounding as a "J”.

Thanks to Kent Live 🙂
 
Also, historians think the name partly originates from the local warlord Gyllangas, which roughly translates as ‘the one who shouts’
 
So how did Scunthorpe get it’s name?

The name Scunthorpe–whose unassuming syllables are pronounced as “scun” and “thorpe”–is believed to be derived from an Old Norse word, “escumetorp,” meaning “farmstead belonging to Skuma.” But the name's etymology isn't what made it notorious. ... But the Scunthorpe Problem isn't limited to geographic locations.
 
Did you know?......The Archbishop of Canterbury’s original palace was at Gillingham Green and the Archbishop owned Gillingham amongst 42 other villages and settlements!
 
Used to have a girlfriend who lived near Gillingham in Suffolk. Not forgetting the Gillingham in Dorset. Google also informs that there is one in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
 
Did you know?......The Archbishop of Canterbury’s original palace was at Gillingham Green and the Archbishop owned Gillingham amongst 42 other villages and settlements!
Should get PS to contact Welby to see if he would buy the Club. Just think what heights we could reach with a very rich owner, the C of E, and God on our side.
 
I'm loving this geeky stuff.

When I went to New Hampshire/southern tip of Maine, I visited Rochester, Dover and Portsmouth. Felt a bit wierd. Sadly didn't have a Gillingham there. I suppose nothing could match the original anyway.
 
I think there's about ten or more Rochesters in the states. Unfortunately I think most, if not all, are named directly after people called Rochester rather than our illustrious town. There is a 'Chatham-Kent' in Canada that is definitely a direct reference though.
 
I'm loving this geeky stuff.

When I went to New Hampshire/southern tip of Maine, I visited Rochester, Dover and Portsmouth. Felt a bit wierd. Sadly didn't have a Gillingham there. I suppose nothing could match the original anyway.
I've been to Dover in Tasmania, which achieves the impossible and makes our version look upmarket.

Conversely, the Tassie town of Swansea is lovely, on the Freycinet peninsula with some of the best seafood I've tasted in a long time.
 
Used to have a girlfriend who lived near Gillingham in Suffolk. Not forgetting the Gillingham in Dorset. Google also informs that there is one in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
There is a smallish village called Gislingham in Suffolk .I not sure of the pronunciation of that. I have not seen a Gillingham here.
 
The name Scunthorpe–whose unassuming syllables are pronounced as “scun” and “thorpe”–is believed to be derived from an Old Norse word, “escumetorp,” meaning “farmstead belonging to Skuma.” But the name's etymology isn't what made it notorious. ... But the Scunthorpe Problem isn't limited to geographic locations.
My experience of the people from Scunny is that they are not the most friendly in the UK either, I think they feel they have to live up to a certain part of the towns name and do so gladly.

Strangely, I was down there one time in the late 70's and a van pulled up next to me and the driver got out and asked me if I knew where some company was based (we were close to Appelby Frodingham, later British Steel). I told him I was a visitor in town but then realised it was Keith (Bullet) Lindsey and let him know that I recognised him. I still don't know who was more surprised, him or me.

I started talking to him about the Gills and how he was one of my favourite players back in the day and he almost blushed - yes blushed, one of the hardest players to pull on a Gills shirt, I kid you not. We spoke for about 10-15 minutes about his time at GFC and then went our separate ways. Lovely bloke and a shame he is not still among us.
 
Now I understand why in every Hollywood movie where action moves to an overseas place there has to be a caption such as "London England" or "Moscow Russia".
 
I've typed Rochester into search engines many times and I'm always surprised when I get replies detailing services in New York State.

There's also a Rochester in Australia, I remember when I did the pools they have a team on the coupon. Another fact is that the Rochester United FC over here actually play in Strood.