Historic place names

Under the 2023 Historic Environment (Wales) Act, the Welsh Ministers must maintain and publish a list of historic place names in Wales. 

They have entrusted that task to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. The List of Historic Place Names of Wales is freely available online.

The Act requires the historic environment record (HER) that the Welsh Ministers must maintain for every local authority area to incorporate the place names for that area from the list. The information contained in the List of Historic Place Names of Wales is therefore readily accessible alongside other evidence from the HER to inform the decisions of local planning authorities, other public bodies, developers and owners on the management of the historic environment.

The Welsh Ministers have issued statutory guidance, Historic Environment Records: Compilation and Use, for local and National Park authorities and Natural Resources Wales. This guidance sets out how these public bodies are expected to use the List of Historic Place Names of Wales when their functions involve naming or renaming places.