origin of town name 'lower farm' is one possible translation of 'netherton' from old english the 'nether' part has kept its meaning ie 'lower' the ' ton' ending is derived from the old english 'tun'and can have a number of meanings eg a dwelling house mansion yard farm village town a plot of enclosed land etc see for example 'a compendious anglo saxon and english dictionary j bosworth publ john russel smith london