French-looking placenames in the county:
Rievaulx
Jervaulx
Richmond
Pontefract/Pomfret
Frecheville
Beauchief
Grosmont
Arras
Dunsville
Manvers
There's also one Italian name:
Portobello
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LissaT
Pro - 09 Dec. 2008 @ 10:48:05
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I expect there are French-sounding placenames in every English county. Most would have come from Norman times when, for the landed gentry, Old French was the first language.
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The thing that always fascinates me is that in amongst all the norse place names you suddenly come across the very celtic Ben Rydding and Pen-Y-Ghent.
I once read that the persistance of frenchified spelling was to an extent down to Ann Clifford and other posh travellers who preferred Rievaulx and Jervaulx to the everyday Rye-vale and Ure-vale used by common folk.