Page 3 - link magazine

WHY TOOT}IILL?
Many people have wondered where the name came from - something to do with
trains perhaps?
But... a Toothill i_s a natural or artificial piece of high ground from which
the surrounding countryside can be seen. The pronunciation 'ras often!tuthill'
and in this form looks like the Welsh,'twthill'. In London Tothill Street took
its name from the toothill in Tootehill Fields. It was called the Tootehill or
Totehill as far back as the thirteenth centur y.
In old name for a watchman was a 'tootere' and toothill was a name for a watch-
tower. Other words which have a similar meaning are the Welsh 'twt' or *twytt
(a spring or rising),'totian'(Old English for projection),'toton'(to peep) and
'tout'(to look about). This latter form is better known to us as a ticket tout
or one touting for custom;:;

Even in the Wycliffe translation of the Bible 'toothill' appears several times
For instance Isiah 21,verse 5 "Prepare the table, watch in a watchto;: er" is
w
translated as "Sett the bord, behold in a toothill"
There are a number of hamlets in England named Toothill. London has its Toot-
ing, Somerset has a long barrow called the Fairy Toot, to the north of Peter-
borough Cathedral there is an earthen mound called Toothill and in Herefordsh-
ire there is a Norman castle called..Toothill.

Our Toothill is an ancient site. It was occupied in the time of the early
Britons and diggings in this area have produced a remarkable number of Roman-
British pottery Kilns shaped rather like boats,,
Something to do with trains indeed.

WHAT IS IT?
After months of asking this question,. everybody now knows that the building
on the corner of Dunwich Drive and Flint Hill is a church. The opening and
dedication on November 25th. was well attended and was a great success.
But what sort of church is it and who is it for? Unlike most traditional churches
it will not be for just one denomination - it will be the one church for all
Christian people on the Toothill Estate,and it will be called simply TOOTHILL
CHURCH.
Some time ago it was agreed by all the main churches in Swindon that in new areas
no denomination should build churches of their ovm, but that all the denominat-
ions should support shared churches. The TOOTHILL CHURCH is being built by the
lethodists, but will be shared by and run jointly by Methodists,Church of England
Baptists, United Reform Church and Roman Catholics. There will have to be a
separate Roman Catholic Mass which will probably be celebrated at 4pm on Sunday
afternoons,,but apart from this all services will be for everybody, and there
will be one united congregation. So TOOTHILL CHURCH will be the one church for
everybody and the Christian centre for people of all denominations and none.
Our: lay-worker, Miss Olive King has been working on Toothill since the first
few houses were occupied, and she is supported by the Vicar, Canon Jim Free; the
Methodist Superintendant Rev, Ken Crossland; Baptist Minister from Swindon Central
Church ,Rev. Ruth Matthews;and the Roman Catholic Rev.Fr, David Ryan.
To begin with the services will be at 10,30a.m. and 6p.m. Future times and the
future programme of the church will be arranged according to the wishes and needs
of the people.
We want TOOTTILL CHURCH to be the centre of Christian witness and to serve every-
body, and we hope that it will be an integral part of the community and help to
make Tcothill a good place to live.
KEN CROSSL_a ND
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