1/ What is the origin of the surname Langton? Langton is a common placename having two parts Lang=long and ton=settlement later town. However it needs to be noted that there are no big/long langton settlements they all seem to be small and rural often situated close up to a long hill. The saxon word for hill is don later down or downs. In saxon times place names helped people find where they wanted to go. A hill is one of the best navigational aids because it is easily seen being big and high. A long hill is a Lang-don. When a settlement - a ton was formed this became a Lang-ton. It was an easy slide from don to the similar sounding ton. So most of these settlements nestling under long hills became Lang-tons although a few particularly in the south and west remained Lang-dons. These villages were forming from 500AD onwards by the time of Domesday Book 1086 some had corrupted names Laughton, Lenton, Langston, Longton etc. In part this is why the project covers the whole range of names.