The name Avening is first attested in an early 11th-century manuscript of a charter of 896, in the dative case, in the Old English phrase to Æfeningum ("to Avening"). In the nominative case, this word would have been Æfeningas. Throughout the 20th century, scholars agreed that the stream running through Avening must, like a number of other rivers in Britain, have been called "Avon", and that this word was combined with the Old English suffix-ingas ("people, tribe"). Thus the name Æfeningas was thought to have meant "people of the Avon".
However, in 2016–18, Richard Coates argued that this explanation was problematic (there is no evidence that the river was called "Avon" and the expected Old English spelling of a word based on that name would have been **Afeningas, not Æfeningas; moreover, place-names ending in -ingas are not otherwise found based on river-names). While recognising that he had no good alternative etymology to offer, Coates argued that the Gaulish place-name Aven(n)io, now Avignon, would from a phonological point of view be a viable basis for Æfeningas. Thus the name may have meant "people from Avignon", referring to a settlement of people from that area of Gaul, perhaps monks sent to Britain.[2]
Related place names
Avening is also the name of a rural community immediately south of Creemore, Ontario, Canada, on the Mad River. One of its pioneers was Frederick Thornbury, who built a flour mill and a sawmill in the Ontario community in 1860, and named the settlement "after his native place in England".[3]
Avening has a parish council, consisting of nine elected members.[6]
An electoral ward of the same name stretches from Avening in the west to Long Newnton in the south east. The total population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 1,930.[7]
Caroline Playne (1857-1948), historian, pacifist and anti-war activist.[8]
Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham (1868–1947), soldier, diplomat, politician and philanthropist; with Lady Lee he lived at Old Quarries, a Grade II listed building. He donated his country house, Chequers, to the nation as a retreat for the Prime Minister.
Michael Powell (1905–90). Film director, producer, screenwriter, actor; died and buried locally. His gravestone was designed by his son Columba, who appeared in some of his films.
Pamela Brown (1917–75). A RADA-trained actor, she spent her last days with Michael Powell; also died and buried locally.
Tony Hall (1928–2019), music business executive, columnist, record producer, TV presenter and radio DJ.
^The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society, ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. Avening.
Foot, William (2006). Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ... the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. Council for British Archaeology. ISBN1-902771-53-2.
