Q8 Redland.
Tsk, beat me to it.
Redland (the Bristol one) is, I believe, unique in that whereas other places called Redland are 'ridded land' (i.e. land which has had all those pesky trees removed), the Bristol one's name derives from the fact that the land there is, er, red. Iron deposits or something.
Simple folk, us Bristolians.
Actually no, I don't think that is correct. There are various theories as to why Redland is so called, but
AFAIK▸ a derivation from 'red land' isn't one of them.
The two main possibilities are 'cleared land' (as in 'ridded land') or land that has been divided into three, based on some of its earlier spellings, which suggest the Roman practice of dividing up a man's land into three on their death.
As an aside, there is much potential confusion between derivations from 'red' and 'reed'. Most derivations from 'red' would now be found in names with Reed (or similar) as the Old English form of red was 'read'. Meanwhile, most names deriving from 'reed' are now found in names with Red, as the Old English form of reed was 'hreod', which would have been pronounced more like red. However, one of the only Reds that does certainly derive from red is Redcliffe in Bristol, which does indeed derive from the red-coloured stone.
To quote Bristol City Council's
Cotham & Redland Character Appraisal & Management Proposals, para 5.6:
The origin of the name Redland is unclear; it possibly dates back to the 11th century when it was known as Rudeland, possibly from Old English rudding, meaning “cleared land”; another theory points to a mention Thridland or Th’Ridland, probably meaning “the third part of an estate”; another refers to a mention in 1230 of Rubea Terra and a later mention as la Rede Londe, relating to the red colour of the soil.
