Archery butts

An archery butts is an archery practice field, with mounds of earth used for the targets. The name originally referred to the targets themselves, but over time came to mean the platforms that held the targets as well. For instance Othello, V,ii,267 mentions "Here is my journey's end, here is my butt". In medieval times, it was compulsory for all yeomen in England to learn archery.

Several English towns have districts called "The Butts", but they may not always take their names from archery. The Middle English word "butt" referred to an abutting strip of land, and is often associated with medieval field systems. An example is Newington Butts in south London where contrary to popular belief, the 1955 Survey of London published by London County Council could find no historical reference to archery butts. It concluded that the name probably derived from the triangle of land between the roads, as the word "butts" is used elsewhere in Surrey to refer to odd corners or ends of land.

The word is also used today for the earthwork mounds on, or before, which targets are mounted on a rifle range, with the object of stopping the flight of bullets beyond the range.

Towns with areas known as 'The Butts'

 * Alston Cumbria
 * Alton Hampshire
 * Ashover Derbyshire
 * Barry South Glamorgan
 * Brentford Middlesex
 * Bromfield Shropshire
 * Chobham Surrey
 * Dunsford Devonshire
 * Fordingbridge Hampshire
 * Frome Somerset
 * Hexton Hertfordshire
 * Kidsgrove Staffordshire
 * Kilkenny Ireland
 * Lutterworth Leicestershire
 * Madley Herefordshire
 * Nether Alderley Cheshire
 * Newton Ferrers Devon
 * Rochdale, Greater Manchester
 * St Mary's Butts, Reading, Berkshire
 * Shaftesbury, Dorset (Butts Knapp)
 * Worcester Worcestershire
 * Cowbridge Glamorganshire
 * also the village of Wootton-by-Woodstock, Oxfordshire