Why do we assume that Ottery St Mary, an actual town in south Devon, is the same village as the one called lexicon.org/place/great-britain/england/west-country/devon/ottery-st-catchpole/">Ottery St Catchpole in the books? There are a couple of good reasons for this. For one thing, the name “Ottery” means that the town is located along the River Otter, a small river in south Devon. If Ottery St Catchpole isn’t Ottery St Mary, it has to be located very, very near to it. Another clue is the fact that quite a few places in the stories are found in that immediate area. Rowling attended university in Exeter, which is located there. She set a significant part of the stories in that corner of Britain and borrowed a lot of names. If you look at the map, you’ll find Buddleigh Salterton near Exeter, which lends its name to lexicon.org/place/great-britain/england/budleigh-babberton/">Budleigh Babberton, where Slughorn had been hiding out in a Muggle house. You’ll also find Chudleigh, the home of the lexicon.org/thing/chudley-cannons/">Chudley Cannons — spelled differently so it’s not quite the same name but very close, just like Ottery St Catchpole. It does make sense that Ron would be a fan of the local Quiddtich team. You’ll also find the town of Dawlish there, whose name Rowling borrowed for the Auror, lexicon.org/character/john-dawlish/">John Dawlish. The most important clue is also the coolest, I think. If you drive a mile or so south of Ottery St Mary, exactly where the books say you’d find the Weasley homestead, you’ll find a farm called The Burrow Hill Farm. No kidding. I visited that very farm while researching my booklexicon.org/2012/07/07/book-search-harry-potter/"> In Search of Harry Potter. Weird thing is, my GPS quit on my just as I drove down the little lane that led to the farm. I can’t help but suspect that Rowling used that name intentionally. As I said, she spent several years here going to university, so it is certainly possible that she saw that name — lexicon.org/place/great-britain/england/west-country/devon/ottery-st-catchpole/the-burrow/">Burrow — and saw it as the perfect name for the home of the Weasley family, even describing it as being in the exact same place just south of the village … whose name she also borrowed.