S1TY 
 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 THE PLACE-NAMES OF 
 BERKSHIRE 
 
 » m o 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. WALTER W. SKEAT ' 
 
 Lirr.D., D.C.L., LL.D., Ph.D., F.B.A. 
 
 ELRINOTON AND BOSWOKTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON 
 AND TELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
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 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 
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 HENRY FKOWDE, M.A. 
 
 PDBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 
 
 LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK 
 
 TORONTO AND MELBOURNE 
 
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 ® PREFATORY REMARKS 
 
 )-^ 
 
 In 1901 my essay on 'The Place-names of 
 Cambridgeshire ' was published for the Cambridge 
 Antiquarian Society, and a little later the same 
 0_ Society published my similar essay on ' The Place- 
 -names of Huntingdonshire'. In 1906 they 
 ec published my ' Place-names of Bedfordshire '. 
 
 In 1904 the East Herts. Archaeological Society 
 published for me a somewhat larger pamphlet on 
 1 The Place-names of Hertfordshire '. 
 
 After thus completing some account of the 
 
 ^ place-names of these four counties, it occurred 
 
 to me to investigate those of Berkshire. I was 
 
 3 inclined to this by two considerations. The first, 
 
 that it is not a very large county in itself ; and 
 
 2] secondly, that Birch's edition of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 o~> Charters contains a considerable number that 
 
 refer to this county, so that the Anglo-Saxon 
 
 spellings of a rather large proportion of the names 
 
 >.are readily accessible. 
 
 j|j It is necessary to repeat here some of the con- 
 siderations which it is desirable for the student 
 ^to know. 
 
 w 1 . The place-names of Berkshire are nearly all 
 c of native English origin ; and are formed in strict 
 Oaccordance with the rules of Anglo-Saxon grammar. 
 3 2. They are nearly all of one of two types. 
 Either they are significant of possession, like Spars- 
 holt ; or they are descriptive of position, like 
 Eastbury. 

 
 4 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 3. In the latter case, the place-name is formed 
 by composition, like cart-horse. In the former 
 case, possession is indicated by the use of the geni- 
 tive case. The possessor's name is usually mas- 
 culine, in which case the grammatical rules for 
 the formation of the genitive are quite simple ; 
 viz. as follows. 
 
 4. If the nominative ends (in very early times) 
 in -i, or (later) in -e, or in a consonant, the genitive 
 ends in -es. Examples : nom. Pefi, later Pefe ; gen. 
 Pefes. This occurs in Pusey. JEsc (Ash) ; gen. 
 JEsces. Hence Ashbury, short for Ash's bury. In 
 the modern form, the genitive ending has been 
 lost. 
 
 5. Nearly all other genitives end in -a, and 
 take a genitive in -an. Thus the genitive of Uffa 
 is Uffan ; whence both Uffington and Ufton. In 
 the former case, n has been turned into ng ; in the 
 latter, the suffix has disappeared. 
 
 6. If the possessor's name is feminine, the 
 nominative ends in a consonant or in -e. In the 
 former case, the genitive ends in -e ; in the latter, 
 in -an. Thus the genitive of Burghild is Burg- 
 hilde, as in the case of Bucklebury. And the 
 genitive of Cille is Cillan, as in the case of Chil- 
 drey. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that most place- 
 names are of rather simple, sometimes of almost 
 trivial origin. When the oldest or Anglo-Saxon 
 form can be recovered, the interpretation is often 
 obvious. When this cannot be done, we must 
 rely upon the oldest and fullest forms in Middle 
 English or in Domesday Book ; always bearing in
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS 5 
 
 mind that Norman spellings are often peculiar, 
 and require to be rightly interpreted. 
 
 The principal authorities are the following : — 
 
 Birch, W. de Gray, Cartularium Saxonicum. London, 
 1885-93. 3 vols. 
 
 Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon ; ed. Rev. J. Steven- 
 son (Rolls Series). 2 vols. 
 
 Duignan, \V. H., Staffordshire Place-names. London, 
 1902. 
 
 The same; Worcestershire Place-names. London, 1905. 
 
 Earle, Rev. J., Handbook to the Land-Charters. Oxford, 
 1888. 
 
 Kemble, J. M., Codex Diplomaticus Mvi Saxonici. 
 London, 1839-48. 6 vols. 
 
 Searle, Rev. W. G., Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum. 
 Cambridge, 1897. 
 
 Thorpe, B., Diplomatarium Anglicum. London, 1865. 
 
 Also the following, denoted by abbreviations : — 
 
 Ab.— Rotulorum Originalium in Curia Scaccarii Abbre- 
 
 viatio. London, 1805. Vol. i. 
 Cat.— A Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds in the 
 
 Public Record Office. London, 1890. Vol. i. 
 CI. R.— Close Rolls; Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in 
 
 Turri Londinensi asservati. a.d. 1204-24. Vol. i. 
 Cl.R., vol. 2. The same; vol. 2. a.d. 1224-7. 
 D.B.— Domesdav Book ; part relating to Berkshire. 
 E.D.D.— The English Dialect Dictionary ; ed. J. Wright. 
 F. A.— Feudal Aids (Record Series) ; vol. i. 
 H.R.— Hundred Rolls ; Rotuli Hundredorum ; vol. i. 
 Index.— Index to Charters in the British Museum; ed. 
 
 H. J. Ellis and F. B. Bickley. London, 1900. 
 Ipm. — Calendarium Inquisitionum post Mortem, sive 
 
 Escaetarum ; ed. J. Caley. (Record Series.) Vol. i. 
 N.E.D.— The New English Dictionary (Oxford). 
 Pipe Rolls. — Great Rolls of the Pipe; ed. J. Hunter. 
 
 Vol. i (1155-8) ; vol. ii (1189-90). 
 P. R.— Patent Rolls ; Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium 
 
 (Henry III— Edward IV).
 
 6 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 R.B.— Red Book of the Exchequer; ed. W. D. Selby 
 
 (Rolls Series). See the index in vol. iii. 
 R.C.— Calendarium Rotulorum Chartarum (John — 
 
 Henry VI). 
 R.T. — Rotuli Chartarum in Turri Londinensi asservati ; 
 
 ed. T. D. Hardy. London, 1837. 
 T.E.— Taxatio Ecclesiastiea (1291). Ed. 1802. 
 T.N. —Testa de Neville (Henry III— Edward I). 
 V.E. — Valor Ecclesiasticus ; temp. Henry VIII. 
 Some of these have indexes of personal names as well 
 
 as of place-names. Both should be consulted. 
 
 The place-names of Berkshire are here arranged 
 (in alphabetical order) under the various suffixes 
 which they exhibit, which are likewise arranged 
 in alphabetical order. The number of names in 
 which no suffix appears is only six ; and these are 
 given at the end. 
 
 All the suffixes found in Berkshire names are of 
 English origin or form, and may conveniently be 
 here enumerated. They are as follows : -bergh, 
 -bourn, -brook, -bury, -combe, -cot, -cross, -den, 
 -don (rarely -down), -ey, -Jield, -ford, -grave, -hale, 
 -ham (with two values), -hay, -hill, -hit he, -holt, 
 -hurst, -ing, -ley, -low, -marsh, -mere (with two 
 values), -or, -pen, -ridge, -rith, -shet {-shot), -stead, 
 -ham-stead, -thorn, -ton, -ware (-wer), -well, -worth. 
 The suffixes -combe and -don were borrowed from 
 Celtic ; -cross is ultimately Latin. The six names 
 in which no suffix appears are Beedon (notwith- 
 standing its appearance), Bray, Shaw, Shippon, 
 Speen, and Theale. 
 
 In selecting the names, I have been guided by 
 Kelly's Post Office Directory of Berkshire, and 
 have included all that seemed to be of any interest.
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS 7 
 
 I have also made much use of the County Atlases 
 by Bacon and Philips ; also of an earlier one by 
 Pigot (1831), which gives the hundreds into which 
 the county is divided. 
 
 I discuss, first of all, the etymology of Berkshire 
 itself, and then those of a few of the hundreds 
 that are not now coincident with known place- 
 names. Perhaps it is well to warn the reader that 
 many of the explanations that have been offered 
 by some of our antiquaries are sadly mistaken, 
 owing to their almost total ignorance of the 
 phonetic laws of Old English and of Norman 
 French. A conspicuous example of this occurs in 
 the case of Speen, which has frequently been 
 identified with the Latin Spinae. I greatly doubt 
 whether it is topographically suitable ; indeed, 
 some authors would prefer to locate Spinae at 
 Newbury. But however this may be, it is not 
 possible to identify the names ; as is shown below. 
 
 The most helpful county history is that by 
 Daniel and Samuel Lysons, comprised in vol. i of 
 Magna Britannia; London, 1806-22; quarto. 
 In ten parts, forming six volumes. I have also 
 taken good care to consult Mr. W. H. Stevenson's 
 edition of Asser's Life of King Alfred, which 
 contains some valuable hints, and have carefully 
 considered The History of Berks., by Lieut. Cooper 
 King, though the etymologies there given are 
 frequently due to impossible guesses. The Victoria 
 County History of Berkshire contains useful notes 
 upon Domesday Book.
 
 THE PLACE-NAMES OF 
 BERKSHIRE 
 
 Berkshire. 
 
 The etymology of Berkshire is, practically, given 
 in the opening sentence of Asser's Life of King 
 Alfred : e Anno Dominicae Incarnationis dcccxli.y 
 natus est Alfred, Angul-Saxonum rex, in villa 
 regia, quae dicitur Uuanating, in ilia paga, quae 
 nominatur Berrocscire : quae paga taliter vocatur 
 a Berroc silva, ubi buxus abundantissime nascitur.' 
 Giles's version has : ( In the year of our Lord's 
 incarnation 849, was born Alfred, king of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, at the royal village of Wanating 
 [footnote, Wantage], in Berkshire ; which country 
 has its name from the wood of Berroc, where the 
 box-tree grows most abundantly.' Here Berroc 
 is a sort of polite Latinised spelling of the A.S. 
 Bearruc ; for earr is hardly acceptable to the eye 
 that is accustomed to the Latin err in ferrum. 
 The Mercian form was Barruc. The true nomina- 
 tive of ' shire ' was sclr. 
 
 We find Beamicscir in Birch, C. S. iii. 75 ; 
 Baerrocscir in the same, ii. 378 ; Berrucscir, ii. 
 376 ; Barroccscir in Thorpe, Dipl. JEvi Saxonici, 
 p. 414. Later forms are Berrochescire, D.B., p. 1 ; 
 Berkesire, R.B. ; Barcssire, Robert of Gloucester. 
 Though there is no doubt about the etymology, it 
 
 1257 B
 
 10 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 has been absurdly misinterpreted in various ways. 
 Bearruc is, formally, a diminutive of beam, a wood, 
 a grove. The gen. of this is bearw-es, showing 
 that the true stem is bearwo-, which, by the 
 addition of -c, became bearwoc, bearwuc ; and then, 
 by the assimilation of rw to rr, bearruc. The -c 
 made little difference to the sense, which Asser 
 expresses by ' silva '. He further tells us that 
 it abounded with box-ti-ees ; whence arose one of 
 the misinterpretations, viz. that Bearruc meant 
 1 a box-tree ' ! This is as if we were to declare that 
 forest means ' an oak-tree ' ; yet it is gravely 
 repeated by successive ' authorities '. The name 
 of the county merely signifies that it once 
 abounded with woodland ; and we further learn 
 from Asser that there were many box-trees. As to 
 this latter point, note the place-names Boxford 
 (originally Box-ora) and Boxgrove in the parish of 
 Sulham, near Reading. 
 
 Another fable was started by Brompton, the 
 historian, that Baroc-scir [so misspelt] meant f bare 
 oak shire ', so called from a polled oak in Windsor 
 Forest, where public meetings were held ; which 
 is even preserved in Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon 
 Dictionary. It cannot be taken seriously, being 
 but a poor joke ; yet it has found its way into 
 school-books on geography, and is industriously 
 taught ; for in some schools any rubbish is good 
 enough when English etymology is handled. 
 
 Others ' derive ' Berkshire from the British tribe 
 of the Bibroci ; and others from the Roman town 
 of Bibracte. The effect of the latter attempt is 
 somewhat marred by the rival assertion that
 
 BERKSHIRE 11 
 
 Bibracte is the origin of Bray ! Any sort of 
 similarity between two names was held by our 
 older writers to prove identity. The result was 
 sadly embarrassing, as it provided many names 
 with half a dozen origins, and exalted impudent 
 assertions far above positive evidence. 
 
 The Berkshire Hundreds. 
 
 The hundreds into which Berkshire has been 
 divided have varied to some extent from time to 
 time. They are now twenty in number, viz. 
 Baynhurst, Bray, Charlton, Compton, Cookham, 
 Faircross, Faringdon, Ganfield, Hormer, Kintbury, 
 Lambourn, Moreton, Ock, Reading, Ripplesmere, 
 Shrivenham, Sonning, Theale, Wantage, and 
 Wargrave. The etymologies of these names are 
 all discussed below. It may be remarked that 
 Baynhurst, Faircross, Ganfield, Hormer, Ock, and 
 Ripplesmere are not now place-names. The 
 Charlton near Wantage has nothing to do with 
 the hundred, though its origin is the same. Ock 
 is really the name of a river ; called in A.S. 
 Eocca. 
 
 In the Hundred Rolls, &c, we meet with some 
 other names,viz. Blekebyr', Borghedeberie, Cotset- 
 tlesford, Rugheberg. Blekebyr' is discussed under 
 Blewberry ; Borghedeberie is a form of Buckle- 
 bury, and Rugheberg of Roborough. Cotsettlesford 
 (not noticed in D.B.) is explained by the A.S. 
 cotsctla, a cottager ; lit. a settler in a cot ; so that 
 the sense is l cottager's ford'. 
 
 In the Domesday Book we meet with a few 
 other names, some of which are merely variants
 
 12 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 of those already mentioned. Thus Beners appears 
 to be Baynhurst ; Blitberie is a by-form of Blew- 
 berry ; Cerletone is Charlton ; Gamenesfelle is 
 Ganfield ; Hilleslaue is discussed under Ilsley ; 
 Hornimere is Hormer ; Merceham is Marcham ; 
 Roeberg is the Rugheberg of the Hundred Rolls ; 
 Sudtune and Taceham are Sutton and Thatcham. 
 The hundreds of Kintbury and Egley, called in 
 D.B. Cheneteberie and Eglei respectively, are now 
 united in the hundred of Kintbury, formerly called 
 Kintbury-Eagle. But we further meet with some 
 entirely new names of hundreds : Eslitesford, 
 Nachededorn, and Wifol, which correspond to 
 nothing that is now known. I make a few 
 remarks upon each of these. 
 
 Eslitesford. Also spelt Eletesford, D.B., p. 13; 
 H eslitesford, p. 2 ; but the H is of no value ; 
 English names beginning with SI had an E (or 
 He) prefixed to them to suit the Norman pro- 
 nunciation. Cf. Sleteford, Pipe Rolls (l Rich. I) ; 
 Slottesford, F.A. The prefix represents an A.S. 
 Slottes- or Slyttes-, the gen. case of some unknown 
 masculine personal name ; from a nominative 
 Slott or Slytt. We cannot tell. It seems to have 
 formed a part of Moreton hundred. 
 
 Nachededorn. This curious name evidently 
 arose from the A.S. phrase f aet tham nacodan 
 thorne ', at the Naked Thorn. As Mr. Stevenson 
 says, in his edition of Asser, p. 238, ' it is tempting 
 to identify this bare or leafless thorn with the 
 unica spinosa arbor' mentioned in the Life of 
 Alfred, ch. 39, 1. 5. This refers to the battle of
 
 THE BERKSHIRE HUNDREDS IS 
 
 Ashdown, where Dr. Giles's translation has : — 
 ' There was also a single thorn-tree, of stunted 
 growth, and Ave have with our own eyes seen it. 
 Around this tree the opposing armies came to- 
 gether with loud shouts from all sides,' &c. (p. 55). 
 This old hundred is now included in the hundred 
 of Compton. 
 
 Wifol, or Wiford. In D.B., p. 8, it appears as 
 Wiford, which is the more intelligible form ; but 
 some consonant has been lost before the J) most 
 likely a guttural. It may very well represent the 
 A.S. Wicford, modern E. Wickford. There is a 
 Wickford in Essex. From the A.S. ti'ic, Lat. incus, 
 a village. The sense would be ' ford near a village '. 
 
 I may add that Merceham and Sudtune, names of 
 hundreds in D.B., i. e. Marcham and Sutton, are 
 now both in the hundred of Ock. Taceham 
 (Thatcham) is in the hundred of Reading. 
 
 The boundaries of the modern hundreds are so 
 extremely irregular, and their shapes are so ex- 
 traordinary, that the position of a given place in 
 the hundred to which it is assigned can only be 
 understood by reference to a map in which these 
 boundaries are well defined. For example, Cook- 
 ham hundred consists of two portions, at some 
 distance apart ; and Cookham itself is in the 
 smaller portion of the two. 
 
 The Suffix -dergh. 
 
 Bergh is the Middle English form of the suffix 
 which appears in A.S. (Anglo-Saxon) as beorh, 
 Mercian berk, a hill; whence the modern E. barrow,
 
 14 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 in the sense of burial-mound or tumulus. Being 
 little used, it was easily confused with the modern 
 E. borough, and appears in that form in the two 
 examples given below. 
 
 Farnborough. Spelt Farnborowe in V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII). But the older spelling is Farnberg, 
 T.E. ; or Farnebergh, Ipm. ; Fermeberge (error for 
 Ferneberge), D.B., p. 7. In a charter dated 931, 
 in Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 370, the boundaries of 
 some land at Farnborough are given ; and we 
 find the various forms following, viz. to Fearn- 
 beorgan, of Fearn-beorge, on Fearn-beorg. Hence 
 we may infer the nom. sing. Fearn-beorh, dat. 
 Fearn-beorge. The meaning is e fern-hill '. 
 
 Roborough. There is now no such place ; but 
 this form occurs as the name of a ' hundred ' in 
 S. Devon. It is the modern form of a Berkshire 
 hundred spelt Rughcberg in the Hundred Rolls, 
 vol. i, and Rubergh in Ipm. D.B. has Roeberg hun- 
 dred, p. 5. The late A.S. form is Ruanbergh, 
 Kemble, Cod. Dipl. vi. 227 ; better Ruwan-beorh, 
 as in Birch, Cart. Saxon, hi. 309 ; though these 
 examples do not refer to Berkshire. However, we 
 find (probably another) Ruwan-beorg in a Berks, 
 charter, in Birch, C.S. ii. 51 6. Another variant is 
 Rugan-beorh, id. i. 545, or Rugan-biorg, ii. 362 ; 
 and, in the line above, we find Rugan-slaed ; which 
 makes it likely that Rugan is the gen. of Ruga, 
 a personal name. The lit. sense of ruga is ' rough', 
 as it is a definite form of A.S. ruh, rough. If 
 this be right, the sense is ' Ruga's (or Ruwa's) 
 barrow', rather than simply ' rough hill '.
 
 THE SUFFIX -BOURN 15 
 
 Bourn. 
 
 Bourn, bourne, or borne, represents the A.S. burn, 
 a small river, a stream. Examples occur in Cran- 
 bourn (near Winkfield), Enborne, Hagbourne, 
 Lambourn, Pangbourn, Shalbourne (formerly in 
 Berks., but now in Wilts.), and Winterbourne. 
 
 Cranbourn. The prefix represents the A.S. 
 cran, a crane ; a bird ' formerly abundant in Great 
 Britain, and prized as food, but now extinct ' ; 
 N.E.D. The sense is 'crane stream'; and was 
 at first applied to a streamlet. Cranbourn Wood 
 adjoins Windsor Park. 
 
 Enborne. The forms are Eneburne, F.A. (131 6) ; 
 Enebum, H.R. ; Enedbum, T.N. ; Enedeborne, R.C. 
 All from A.S. ened, cognate with Lat. anus (gen. 
 anal-is), a duck. The sense is ' duck-stream ' ; 
 originally applied to the stream which, under 
 the name of the river Emborne, forms a part of 
 the boundary between Berks, and Hants. Cf. 
 Enford (Wilts.), formerly Enedford, i.e. ' duck- 
 ford ' ; Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 408. It is strange 
 that the river itself is corruptly called the Em- 
 borne ; though the names are both from the same 
 original. 
 
 Hagbourne. East and West Hagbourne are 
 to the west of Wallingford. Called Hagborne in 
 V.E. (temp. Hen. VIII). But the older form is 
 Hakeburn, T.N. ; T.E. ; Hakeburne, F.A. ; D.B. 
 has Hachebome ; p. 1 2. A charter of King 
 Alfred has ' a?t Hacce-burnan, Sonon of Hacce- 
 broce ', &c, Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 206-7 ; and
 
 16 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Hacce- answers to the later Hake- and to Hache- in 
 D.B. (with ch for k). But it is not the original 
 form, as shown by the variant Haccan-broc in the 
 same, p. 557 ; which alone could give Hake- and 
 Hag-. Haccan is the genitive case of the per- 
 sonal name Hacca ; and the sense is l Hacca's 
 stream ' ; just as Haccan-broc is ' Hacca's brook '. 
 
 Lambourn. This is the name of a stream, a 
 place, and a hundred. D.B,, p. 4, speaks of Lam- 
 borne in Lamborne hundred. The A.S. Lamb-bur- 
 nan occurs in King Alfred's Will • Birch, Cart. 
 Saxon, ii. 178. Evidently compounded of lamb, 
 a lamb, and burna, by-form of burn, a stream. 
 The sense is ' lamb-stream '. In F.A. the place 
 is called Chepinglamborne, i. e. Market Lam- 
 bourn; from the A.S. ceaping, bargaining. See 
 Cheaping in N.E.D. We also find the A.S. spell- 
 ing Lamburna in 943 ; Birch, C.S. ii. 535. This 
 might be explained as being from the A.S. lam, 
 loam ; with the a shortened before mb. It is diffi- 
 cult to decide ; but the spelling given above, in 
 a document so important as Alfred's Will, is a 
 strong argument in favour of the former explana- 
 tion. In Birch, C.S. iii. 29, Idrnburna has the a 
 marked long, but this may be due to the occur- 
 rence of lam-pyt below. Mr. M c Clure (British Place- 
 names, p. 289) decides that Lamb-hythe in the 
 A.S. Chron., an. 1041, is a late form, and corrupted 
 from Lam-hythe ; but he produces no evidence 
 beyond a statement that the latter form is found 
 in 1088 ! Kemble, Cod. Dipl. iv. 158, has Lambe- 
 hythe in a charter of Edward the Confessor ; but
 
 THE SUFFIX -BOURN 17 
 
 the copy is late. It is difficult to see how the 
 long a could have been shortened before mh ; 
 the A.S. Lam-hythe should have become Loam- 
 hithe. His further argument that 'loam-hithe' 
 is analogous to ' chalk-hithe ', which is the mean- 
 ing of Chelsea, is easily met by adducing the 
 form Rother-hithe. And why is the b in Lambeth 
 so strongly pronounced even at the present day? 
 
 Paxgbourn. This is situate at the junction with 
 the Thames of the river Pang, formerly called the 
 Pangbourn. Spelt Pangeburn, T.E. ; D.B., p. 5, 
 has Pandebome, better spelt Pangeborne at p. 1 2 of 
 the same. The original form of the prefix is very 
 curious ; it appears in the forms Peginga-burnan 
 and Paegeinga-burnan in a charter of the date 833 
 or 834 ; Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 20. The shortened 
 form Pangan-burnan occurs in 956 ; p. 88. All 
 these forms are in an oblique case, from the weak 
 masc. nom. burna. The correct old form is 
 Pjeginga-burna, i. e. ' the stream of the sons of 
 Paaga '; since Paiginga is the gen. pi. of Pteg-ing, 
 'a son of Pjega,' which is a recorded personal 
 name. The abbreviation was easily made, because 
 the A.S. g represented a mere glide, like the 
 modern E. y in pay ; so that the original sound, 
 somewhat like that of paying, was shortened to 
 something like paing, and then to pang. This is 
 a good example of the difficulty of guessing the 
 source of a name befox-ehand. The fact that the 
 ^-sound was sometimes written as ge explains the 
 form Psegeinga. 
 
 Shalbourne. Now in Wilts., but formerly in 
 1257 C
 
 18 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Berks. Spelt Shalbornc, V.E. (temp. Hen. VIII) ; 
 but at an earlier date with ld> as in Shaldeburne, 
 F.A. (1316); also with and for aid, as in Scaudi- 
 burne, R.B. Owing to the Norman inability 
 to pronounce the E. Sh, it appears in D.B. as 
 Eseldeborne ; p. 4. The A.S. form occurs in aet 
 Scealdeburnan, dat. ; Birch, Cart. Saxon, iii. 404. 
 From the A .S. sceald, ' shallow ' ; so that the sense 
 is ' shallow stream '. The A.S. sceald is not in the 
 Dictionaries, but has been amply exemplified by 
 Mr. Stevenson in his paper in the Phil. Soc. Trans., 
 1895-8, p. 532. The M.E. form is shald, as in 
 Barbour's Bruce, bk. ix, 1. 354. The a was some- 
 times lengthened, and so passed into long o, and 
 the word survives in the expression ' shoal water ', 
 with loss of the final d. Dryden has shoaly in 
 much the same sense, in his translation of Virgil, 
 JEn. V. 1 1 30. The same prefix occurs in Shalfleet 
 in the Isle of Wight, Shalford in Essex and Surrey, 
 and Shelford in Cambridgeshire. See my ai'ticle 
 on Shelford, in The Place-names of Cambs. 
 
 WiNTEnBouRNE. It lies between Chieveley and 
 Boxford. Spelt Winterburn, H.R. ; Wintreborne in 
 D.B., pp. 5, 12. The name also occurs in Gloucs., 
 and several times in Dorsets. and Wilts. A.S. 
 Winterburna, as in Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 347 
 (a.d. 930). Still common in Hants and Sussex (see 
 E.D.D.), to signify an intermittent stream that 
 flows in the winter-time. Whoever desires a full 
 and exact description of a ' winter-bourn ' will find 
 it in Blackmore's novel entitled Alice Lorraine.
 
 THE SUFFIXES -BROOK, -BURY 19 
 
 Brook. 
 
 Shottesbrook. There is but little difference 
 between bourn and brook, either in sense or use. 
 The only example of the latter is in Shottes- 
 brook, not far from Bray, where a brook from the 
 neighbourhood of Shottesbrook enters the Thames. 
 Spelt Shotesbroke, P.R. ; Schottesbroch, Pipe Rolls 
 (l Rich. I). But owing to the Norman difficulty 
 of pronouncing Sh, the usual forms are Sottcsbroc, 
 Ipm. ; Sottebroc, T.N. ; Sotesbroke, F.A. (1316); 
 Sotesbroc, R.B. ; Sotesbroc, D.B., p. 16. In such a 
 case, the modern English sound is a better guide 
 than the old Normanised spelling. The A.S. form 
 of the prefix is Scottes, which occurs in Scottes- 
 healh, lit. ' Scot's [or Shot's] haugh ', in Birch, 
 Cart. Saxon, hi. 2-iO (a.d. 958). Scottes is the 
 gen. sing, of the known name Scot (pronounced 
 as shot). The sense is ' Shot's brook '. Whether 
 this personal name was the same word as the A.S. 
 Scot, meaning (l) a Scot of Ireland, and (2) a Scot 
 of Scotland, can hardly be decided. There is no 
 absolute necessity for considering them identical. 
 
 Bury. 
 Bury represents the A.S. byrig, really the dative 
 case of burh, mod. E. borough. The use of the 
 dative arose from the old habit of prefixing (or 
 understanding) the preposition cet, ' at ', before 
 most place-names. Examples occur in Ashbury, 
 Badbury Hill, Blewberry, Bucklebury, Eastbury, 
 Grimsbury, Kintbury, Newbury. 
 
 Ashbury. It lies between Shrivenham and
 
 20 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Lambourn. Spelt Asschebary, I pin. (1316-17). 
 But the A.S. name was aet iEscesbyrig ; Birch, 
 Cart. Saxon, ii. 548 (a.d. 944). The nom. case 
 occurs as iEseesburh ; id. hi. 59 (a.d. 953). This 
 renders it certain that the name is not derived (as 
 a guesser would suppose) from ash as the name of 
 a tree ; but from the A.S. JEsc, which was in use 
 as a man's name, though the original sense had 
 reference to the tree. One iEsc was the son of 
 no less a man than Hengist. Hence the sense is 
 ' iEsc's borough ', or f Ash's borough '. Of course 
 the syllable -es was easily lost after the sound 
 of sh. 
 
 Badbury Hill. Near Faringdon. There is also 
 a hundred in Dorsets. called Badbury hundred. 
 The latter is spelt Baddebury, Ipm. The A.S. form 
 is Baddanbyrig ; Kemble, Cod. Dipl. vi. 214 ; 
 Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 540. The same prefix occurs 
 in Baddandun ; Birch, C. S. i. 1 79- Baddan is the 
 gen. case of Badda, a known name. Hence the 
 sense is 'Badda's borough'. Similarly, Baddandun 
 means ' Badda's down'. 
 
 Blewberry, or Blewbury. The usual Middle 
 English forms are Blebitry, T.E. ; Blebery, R.B. ; 
 H.R. ; Bleobery, R.C. It was formerly also the 
 name of a hundred, which appears in the curious 
 form Blekebyr' , H.R. D.B. has yet a third form, viz. 
 Blitberie in Blitberie hundred; p. 2. But the A.S. 
 form agrees with the M.E. forms, appearing as 
 Bleobyrig (dat. case), Birch, Cart. Saxon, ii. 557, 
 line 13. The prefix bleo is a sb. in frequent use, 
 with the senses of colour, hue, complexion, look,
 
 THE SUFFIX -BURY 21 
 
 appearance ; the M.E. form being blee. The A.S. 
 bleo and M.E. blee were applied to things both of 
 disagreeable and agreeable appearance; at the 
 same time, we frequently find, at least in the M.E. 
 period, the phrase ' bright of blee ', i. e. of bright or 
 fair hue. This suggests that the original sense of 
 Bleobyrigwas literally 'show-borough', i.e. 'bright 
 borough ' ; compare such names as Fairfield, Fair- 
 ford, Fairlight, Fairsted, and the Berks. Brightwell, 
 as explained below. When this prefix Blee- became 
 unintelligible, it was supplanted by the Norman 
 Bleu- or Blew-, i.e. 'blue '. The variants Blekebyr 
 (for Blekcbyri) and Blitberie are difficult to explain, 
 and I can only offer a suggestion. Such spellings as 
 Blebcry, Bleobeiy, Blitberie, and the modern Blew- 
 berry suggest that, in this instance (but in no other), 
 the suffix was confused with the mod. E. berry, M.E. 
 berye, bene ; or rather that the name of the place 
 was confused with that of the prov. E. blaeberry 
 or bleabcrry, a bilberry ; and as the literal sense of 
 this blue was ' blue ', this may further account for 
 the name Blew-berry. The form Blekcbyri, how- 
 ever, is suggestive rather of the blackberry, A.S. 
 blaceberie ; of which it is just possible that the 
 Norman Blitberie is a poor imitation, though it 
 is closer in forcn to ' blithe bury '. However, we 
 are sure that neither Blekebyri nor Blitberie is 
 really due to the A.S. Bleobyrig ; nor is either 
 really connected with the modern name. But 
 that there has been an alteration from the A.S. 
 blco, * hue,' to the M.E. blew, ' blue,' is quite 
 clear ; though the two words are in no way 
 connected by etymology.
 
 22 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Bucklebury. On the river Pang. The sense is 
 quite certain, though it could hardly have been 
 guessed. The form is Buckilbury, V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII). But the earlier forms are differ- 
 ent, viz. Burghildebur , T.E. ; Burghildeburg, F.A. 
 (13 16); Burhildbury, Ipm. It was formerly also 
 the name of a hundred ; spelt Burghildebyr , H.R. ; 
 Burghildebury, F.A. (1316). D.B. has Borgedeberie 
 in Borgedeberie hundred; p. 9- The M.E. forms can 
 only represent an A.S. form Burghilde byrig, where 
 Burghild is a known A.S. feminine name, with 
 the fern. gen. in -e instead of the masc. gen. in 
 -es. The sense is ' Burghild' s borough'; it being 
 borne in mind that Burghild was a woman. One 
 Burghild was a king's daughter, viz. a daughter of 
 Cenwulf, king of Mercia (796-819); see Searle's 
 Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum. We again meet 
 the same genitive feminine in a slightly debased 
 form, in the case of Burgilde treow, i.e. 
 ' Burghild's tree ' ; Birch, C.S. ii. 207, 1. 2 ; and in 
 a still more debased form, in the case of Buggilde 
 stret, i.e. ' Burghild's street' ; id. i. 184, 1. 14. 
 
 Eastbury. Spelt Estbury, Ipm. ; Estbery, R.B. ; 
 Esbury, H.R. The sense is obvious, viz. ' East 
 borough '. 
 
 Grimsbury. Spelt Grimmesbiria, R.B. There is 
 mention of a Northants. Grimesbiri in Ipm., p. 11. 
 The sense is obvious, viz. ' Gi'im's borough '. 
 There is a Grimes Hill in Worcs., also a Grim's 
 Pits ; concerning which Mr. Duignan remarks that 
 ' Grim was an A.S. name [originally a Norse name], 
 but it also meant a spectre, goblin, or evil spirit.
 
 THE SUFFIX -BURY 23 
 
 Grimes Dyke, Grimes Graves, Grimsditch, are pre- 
 historic earthworks, and the probability is that 
 supernatural agency in their construction is 
 referred to '. A reference to Grimes die, ' Grim's 
 dyke,' occurs in Birch, C.S. iii. 110, 1. 22. 
 
 Kintbury. Also the name of a hundred. We 
 find Kenetbury hundred, Ipm. ; Kenetebur hundred, 
 H.R. ; hundreda de Kenetbury el Egg/e, F.A. (1316) ; 
 Kcnetebury, T.E. ; Cheneteberie in Ch. hundred, D.B., 
 p. 4. The A.S. form appears in <a?t Cynetan byrig' ; 
 Birch, C.S. ii. 367. The sense is ' Kennet 
 borough ' ; the reference being to the river 
 Kennet, called Cyneta in Anglo-Saxon. This 
 river-name is certainly of Celtic origin. The A.S. 
 Cyneta represents an older form *Cunetio ; which 
 may be compared with the Latin place-name 
 Cunetione (abl.) in the Itinerary of Antoninus, no. 
 xiv, also probably due to the British name of the 
 same river. Cf. Kennet in my Place-names of 
 Cambs. For f Eagle ', see Egley, p. 73. 
 
 Newbury. The sense is simply ' new borough '. 
 But at the present date it is not f new' by any 
 means. It is spelt Newburye in Ipm., p. 242, 
 under the date 1310-11 ; but in the same, p. 107, 
 Johannes de Neubiry is referred to as possessing 
 land in Berks, in 1 290, which shows at once that 
 it is older than this latter year. The earliest re- 
 ference to it that I have observed belongs to the 
 reign of Henry I (1100-35); viz. in Stevenson's 
 edition of the Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 77, where 
 we find the expression apud Niuueberiam ; w being 
 denoted by uu. The very form of the word shows
 
 24 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 its antiquity, as it answers to A.S. niwan byrig 
 (dative). In the Hist, of Berks., by Lieut. Cooper 
 King, p. 89, we are told that the castle of Newbury 
 was erected by the Earl of Perche, ' probably in 
 the early part of the thirteenth century, and was 
 stormed by Stephen in 1154'; where it is obvious 
 that for thirteenth we must read twelfth. Perhaps 
 we may date it soon after 1 1 00. From Camden's 
 remark that ' Newburie must acknowledge Speen 
 as its mother ', I entirely dissent. It arose from 
 his identification of Speen with the Roman Spinae, 
 which is nothing but an unjustifiable guess. See 
 remarks upon Speen at p. 112. But perhaps he 
 only meant that Newbury would suit the position 
 of Spinae much better than Speen ; and this may 
 easily be the case ; since (as is explained below) 
 Spinae and Speen are independent of each other, 
 and refer to different places. 
 
 Combe. 
 
 Combe, spelt Coomb in the New E. Diet., means 
 a deep hollow or narrow valley, and is often applied 
 to a hollow on the flank of a hill. The A.S. form 
 is cumb, probably of Celtic origin ; the Welsh cwm 
 has the same sense, and occurs in Welsh place- 
 names. Whitley Stokes refers the latter to a 
 Celtic type *kii7tiba, a valley. This suffix occurs in 
 Letcombe, Ruscombe, and Whatcomb. 
 
 Letcombe. There are two places of this name, 
 near together, viz. Letcombe Regis (King's 
 Letcombe) and Letcombe Basset. The Bassets 
 were a Norman family, who possessed lands in
 
 THE SUFFIX -COMBE 25 
 
 various parts of England. Lysons says that they 
 had the manor of Letcombe in the thirteenth 
 century, in succession to D'Oilly. Spelt Letc- 
 coumb, H.R.; but usually Ledccumbe, P.R. ; R.B. ; 
 R.C.; T.E. ; T.N. Also in D.B., p. 13. A fuller form 
 is Ledencumbe, D.B., p. 4. As to what was the A.S. 
 form, we have no evidence. We can only guess. 
 However, the prefix Leden- exactly agrees with 
 the A.S. Leodan, genitive of Leoda, where Leoda 
 may be a pet-name for one of the numerous names 
 beginning with Leod-, such as Leodbeald, Leod- 
 brand, &c. If this be right, the sense is ' Leoda's 
 combe '. We may compare the Middle English 
 Ledebury, in Ipm., the old name of Ledbury in 
 Herefordshire. Ledcombe became Letcombe as 
 a matter of course, by the influence of the unvoiced 
 c upon the voiced d. 
 
 Ruscombe. Near Twyford. Spelt Ruscombe, 
 V.E.; Roscombe, F.A. Probably the sense is 'rush 
 combe '. Cf. Rushden, in Herts. 
 
 Whatcomb, or Watcumbe. D.B. has Wate- 
 cumbe; p. 13. Lysons refers it to Watcumbe in 
 Great Sheffbrd. Bacon's map gives Whatcomb 
 Farm between Chaddleworth and S. Fawley. 
 Whatcombshey refers to a place in Somersets. ; 
 and Whetecombe is in Dorsets. ; Birch, C.S. ii. 205, 
 422. The prefix Wale- here represents the A.S. 
 hwcete, wheat, which occurs in several compounds, 
 such as Whatfield in Suffolk. The sense is ' wheat 
 combe '. See Waddon in my Place-names of 
 Cambs., and cf. Wheathampstead in Herts. 
 
 1257 d
 
 26 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Cot. 
 
 Cot or Cote is the old word for a cottage or 
 small detached house, and is common in place- 
 names. From the A.S. cot, a cottage. It occurs 
 in Ascot, Buscot, Didcot, Dray cot, Hodcot, and 
 Longcott. 
 
 Ascot. Near Sunninghill. Spelt Ascote, P.R. ; 
 but Escot, T.N. The latter is for Estcot, i.e. 'east 
 cot '. Cf. the A.S. forms Eastcotun, Eastcoten, 
 which are in the dat. plural ; Birch, C.S. ii. 335, 
 iii. 621. The same substitution of As- for the A.S. 
 east, M.E. est, occurs in the case of Aston, p. 91- 
 Compare also Eastcotts, near Cardington, Beds. 
 
 Buscot. On the Thames, above Eaton Hastings. 
 A curious example of a much abbreviated form ; 
 but easily restored. Spelt Burwardcscote, Ipm. ; 
 Borwardcscote, F.A. ; Burwardescot, T.N. ; Bure- 
 wardescote, T.E. ; Burwardscott, V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII). D.B. has Boroardescote ; p. 9- All 
 the forms represent a Mercian form Burgwardes 
 cot ; where Burgward is the Mercian form of 
 Burgweard, a known personal name. Hence the 
 sense is ' Burgward' s (or Burgweard's) cot '. 
 
 Didcot. Sometimes called Dudcote (Kelly). 
 Spelt Dudcote, Ipm. ; Dudecote, R.B. ; V.E. ; 
 Doudecote, Dudecothe, T.N. The A.S. y is vari- 
 ously represented in later English by i and u ; so 
 that Did- and Dud- are both due to the personal 
 name Dydda, not noticed by Searle, but occurring 
 in Dyddan-hamm, in Birch, C. S. iii. 101, 103; 
 Dyddan being the gen. of Dydda. The sense is
 
 THE SUFFIXES -COT, -CROSS 27 
 
 * Dydda's cot '. A very similar name is Dudda, 
 preserved in Dudley, Worcs. Cf. also Dydinc- 
 cotan (dative) ; Birch, C. S. iii. 486. 
 
 Dravcot. Draycot Moor is a township in Long- 
 worth (Kelly). Spelt Draicote, R.B. ; D.B., p. 7 ; 
 and in the Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 5 (a.d. 
 1 066-87). The prefix is discussed under Drayton, 
 p. 95. The probable sense is a ' cot for shelter '. 
 Taylor's explanation, viz. ' dry cot ', is out of the 
 question, as the A.S. for ' dry ' is dryge, which is 
 in no way related, and would have given Drycot. 
 
 Hodcot. Situate in West Ilsley. In Ipm., p. 49, 
 the manors of Hodicote and West Hildesleyc are 
 mentioned together. D.B. also has Hodicote ; p. 11. 
 Hodi- is shortened from Hoden, a later form of 
 A.S. Hodan, gen. of Hoda, a known personal 
 name. The sense is therefore ' Hoda's cot '. 
 One Hoda was certainly a Berkshire man, as he 
 was buried near Sparsholt. This we learn from 
 Birch, C. S. iii. 359 (a.d. 963), where mention is 
 made in a Sparsholt charter of Hodan hlaew, i. e. 
 ' Hoda's burial-mound '. 
 
 Longcot, or Longcott. It lies to the NE. of 
 Shrivenham. I find no early mention of it, and it 
 may be comparatively modern. The sense, viz. 
 c long cot ', is obvious. 
 
 Cross. 
 
 Faircro8s. One of the hundreds is called Fair- 
 cross hundred ; evidently named from a fair or 
 well-made cross, of which I find three notices. 
 Ballivam Belle Cruris, Ab. ; hundredum de Bella
 
 28 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Cruce, H.R. ; F.A. (1428). Chieveley is near the 
 central point of this hundred. 
 
 Cross is borrowed from a Celtic form that was 
 itself an adaptation of Lat. crucem, ace. of crux, a 
 cross. See Cross in N.E.D. 
 
 Dene, Den. 
 
 The suffix -dene or -den represents the A.S. denu, 
 a valley, and is rather common. But Berks, 
 furnishes only two examples of it, viz. Basilden or 
 Basildon, and Yattenden, of which the usual 
 spelling is Yattendon. The suffixes denu, a valley, 
 and dun, a down, or in modern English dene and 
 down, often reduced to -den and -don, are very fre- 
 quently confused ; for wherever there is a valley 
 there is usually a hill or hills above, and the village 
 might take its name from either. 
 
 Basilden, or Basildon. Near the Thames, be- 
 tween Wallingford and Reading. The former is 
 the better spelling. Formerly spelt Basteldene, 
 Ipm. ; Bastildene, Ipm. ; R.C. ; Bastilesden, Ipm. 
 (124-1-2); Basteleden, Bastelesden, T.N. ; Bastindene, 
 R.B. D.B. has Bastedene ; p. 3. The best form of 
 the prefix is Bastehs, out of which all the rest can 
 be produced. This answers to the A.S. Baestles, 
 spelt Baestlaes in Bsestlees-ford, Birch, C. S. ii. 207, 
 and Bestles in Bestles-ford, on the same page. We 
 also find Bestles-ford in the same, i. 108, 147. 
 The charters connect Baestles-ford or Bestles-ford 
 with Bradfield (Berks.), not far from Basildon ; so 
 that it is clear that the personal name (and pro- 
 bably the person) is the same in Ba?stles-ford as in
 
 THE SUFFIXES -DENE, -DEN 29 
 
 Basilden. The nom. case is Baestel, later Bestel ; 
 the latter is given in Searle, p. 105. Hence the 
 sense is c Baestel's dene ' or ' Baestel's valley '. Note 
 that the genitive of such a form as Baestel is not 
 Baesteles, but Baestles ; by rule. See also Bisham, 
 p. 55. 
 
 Yattenden, or Yattendon. In the present case 
 the old spellings are likewise decisive. We find 
 Yatindene, F.A. (1316) ; Yatendene, F.A. (1428); 
 Yatingeden, Yatingden, Yeti?igeden,T.N. ; Yeiingden, 
 P.R. ; Yatingdon, Yatinden, Ipm. ; Yatyndene, Index 
 to Charters (1365). D.B. has Etingedene ; p. 11. 
 The fullest forms of the prefix are Yatinge, Yetinge, 
 representing an A.S. Geatinga, gen. pi. of Geating, 
 a patronymic formed from the personal name 
 Geat. In the A.S. Chronicle, under the date 
 855, we find a note as to ' Godwulf Geating, Geat 
 Taetwaing '; meaning that Godwulf A\as the son of 
 Geat, and Geat was the son of Taetwa. These 
 names occur in the pedigree of King iEthelwulf, 
 lather of /Elfred the Great. Geat is by no means 
 a common name, and it is remarkable that it 
 only occurs once in a charter ; but this is a Berks. 
 charter, granted to Abingdon. See Birch, C. S. 
 iii. 68, which informs us that there was once a 
 place near Cumnor called Geates-cumb, or ' Geat's 
 combe '. Hence the meaning of Yattenden is 
 1 valley of the Geatings or sons of Geat'. It has 
 to be observed that the A.S. g was pronounced as 
 ay before e, and the initial sound gea- (also geci-) 
 would give either yc- or yd- in later forms, and 
 could be shortened (as it was) to ye- or yd- before
 
 30 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 the following t ; so that the development to Yet- 
 tenden and Yattenden (of which only the latter 
 has survived) is quite regular. [N.B. Shortly 
 after writing the above I observed that W. H. 
 Stevenson expressly says of Yattenden — ' that 
 name must have appeared in Old English as 
 *Geatinga-denu ' ; Asser's Life of Alfred, ed. 
 W. H. Stevenson, p. 277. No other solution is 
 possible.] 
 
 Down, -don. 
 
 The suffix -down, often shortened to -don, repre- 
 sents the A.S. dun, a down or hill. It occurs in 
 Abingdon, Ashdown, Faringdon, Moreton (origin- 
 ally Mordon), and in Sinodon Hill. 
 
 Abingdon. Several place-names ending in 
 -ingdon or -ington exhibit a corrupt form of suf- 
 fix, which should rather be -indon and -inton, or 
 -endon and -enton. A well-known example occurs 
 in Newington, representing the A.S. nlwan tune 
 (dative), which means precisely the same thing 
 as the commoner Newton. The -ing has here 
 supplanted an older -en (for A.S. -an), which is 
 nothing but the sign of the dative case. Similarly, 
 Abingdon should rather have become Abbindon 
 or Abbendon ; as will appear. Old spellings are : 
 Abingdon, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; de Abendonia, 
 R.B. ; Abbendon, H.R. ; Abendon, T.E. ; Ipm. In 
 the A.S. charters, we find f iuxta Abbendune', 
 C.S. i. 147 ; ' e latere montis iEbbandune ' (where 
 the final -e represents the Latin gen. suffix -ae), 
 id. 224 ; and iEbbandune (dative), id. 490. The 
 nominative case is jEbban-dun : where iEbban is
 
 THE SUFFIXES -DOWN, -DON 31 
 
 the gen. of the masculine personal name JEbba, 
 or of the feminine name iEbbe. We cannot say 
 which, as both of these occur ; but the former is 
 perhaps more likely to have given name to a hill. 
 The names may also be written Abba and Abbe ; 
 but the fem. form Abbe has not been noted. 
 The prefix in Abing-ton (Cambs. and Northants) 
 has the same origin. I explain it as ' Abba's 
 down '. According to the Chronicle of Abingdon, 
 i. 6, /Ebban-dun was not the original name. The 
 previous name was Seoueces-ham, answering to 
 A.S. Seofeces-ham, i.e. ' Seofec's home ' ; where 
 Seofec is a strong masculine allied to the weak 
 masculine Seofeca which appears in the original 
 form of Seacourt. Any suggestion that Seoueces- 
 ham may be of British origin must be summarily 
 dismissed ; for ham is characteristically English. 
 See Seacourt, p. 107. 
 
 Ashdown. Ashdown Park lies to the SE. of 
 Ashbury ; and just as it has been shown at p. 20 
 that the Ash- in Ash-bury does not refer to the 
 ash-tree, but to a man's name, we find the same 
 to be true of Ashdown. It happens that D.B. has 
 Asscdone, p. 9; but this is not to be identified 
 with Ashdown (see p. 32). Robert of Gloucester, 
 in his Chronicle, has the notable fonn Assesdoune, 
 lines 5312 and 6004, at a later date. The true 
 spelling occurs as iEsces dun, in the A.S. Chroni- 
 cle, under the years 648, 661, and 871. Hence 
 the sense is ' Mscs (or Ash's) down '. No doubt 
 the same iEsc gave name to both places. For 
 further information, see the remarks at pp. 234-8
 
 32 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 of W. H. Stevenson's edition of Asser's Life of 
 Alfred. It is there pointed out that the D.B. spell- 
 ing Assedone cited above is an error for Assedene, 
 and does not refer to Ashdown at all. Also, 
 that iEsces-dun was a range of hills, ' a district or 
 country rather than a town.' And it is remark- 
 able that Asser's Latin text (much interpolated) 
 has ' iEscesdun, quod Latine " mons fraxini " inter- 
 pretatur ', which is contrary to fact, and f not a 
 mistake that an Englishman in the ninth century 
 would be likely to make '. He adds — ' the use of 
 the genitive was restricted to compounds of which 
 the first member was a personal name.' 
 
 Faringdon. As in the case of Abingdon, the 
 ng is here delusive and unoriginal. Faringdon is 
 also the name of a hundred ; and we find mention 
 of Farindon hundred, H.R. ; also of Ferendonc, R.B.; 
 Farendone, Robert of Gloucester ; Farendon,T.N.; 
 but Farndon, T.E. D.B. has Ferendone ; p. 4. In 
 the A.S. Chronicle, anno 924, two of the MSS. 
 say that King Eadweard died among the Mercians 
 at ' Farndun or at ( Fearndun ' ; which is ex- 
 plained by Mr. Plummer to refer to Faringdon, 
 Berks. If this, as is probable, is really the case, 
 we must suppose that, in such spellings as Faren- 
 don and Farindon, the e or i after the r merely 
 means that the r was strongly trilled ; examples 
 of similar spellings are, in fact, known. A curious 
 example of this occurs in Ipm., p. 157, where 
 there is mention of ' Farendon iuxta Bowdon, 
 North[amp]t[onshire] ', which of course means 
 E. Farndon, near Little Bowden, in that county;
 
 THE SUFFIXES -DOWN, -DON 33 
 
 and the name of ' Westfarendon ' occurs a few 
 lines above. If we accept this simple solution, 
 the Middle English spellings represent an A.S. 
 form fearn-d Tin, which appears in Kemble's Index, 
 and merely means ' fern-down '. Otherwise we 
 should have to assume a personal name *Faera, 
 gen. *Fa?ran, and to explain it as ' Faera's down'. 
 Faera is quite possible as a pet name, since we 
 find many examples of names beginning with 
 Far-, such as Faerbeorht, Faerhild, Fserman, Faer- 
 mund, &c. Note also Fsern-dun, l fern-down ' ; 
 Birch, C.S. hi. 432. 
 
 Moreton. N. and S. Moreton are near Walling- 
 ford. Morton is also the name of the hundred 
 in which they are situate. The suffix -ton is very 
 old, as it appears in D.B. ; probably it was sub- 
 stituted by the Normans for the original A.S. suf- 
 fix -dun. We find Morton, T.N. ; Morton hundred, 
 H.R. ; Norihmorton, Ipm. Also Mortune in Blit- 
 berie [Blewberry] hundred', D.B., pp. 11, 15. But 
 the A.S. form was Mordun, as in the grant by 
 King Eadweard of land at Mordun, in Birch, C.S. 
 hi. 323 (a. d. 962). The sense is simply ' moor- 
 down'; from the A.S. mor, a moor. 
 
 Sinodun Hill, or Sinodon Hill. A hill with 
 this strange name lies to the NW. of Wallingford. 
 I find no especial mention of it, but I notice it in 
 order to point out that there is no particular 
 reason why it may not simply mean f synod-down'. 
 Hills were often used for meetings, and it is a 
 eurious fact that the word synod, though of Greek 
 origin, was a fairly common word in A.S. times, 
 
 1257 E
 
 34 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 and appears several times in the A.S. Chronicle, 
 spelt sinoth, senoth, synoth, sinath, with the sense of 
 'council'. Compare such expressions as ' terra 
 de Synod ', R.T., in the 16th year of King John ; 
 gemot-leah, lit. 'meeting-lea', in Birch, C.S. iii. 
 4-92, line 25 ; seonoth-stow, /Elfred's Beda, ii. 2. 
 
 The Suffix -ey. 
 
 The Middle English ey answers to the Anglian 
 eg, A.S. leg, ig, an island. It meant not only 
 ' island ' in the modern sense, but peninsula ; or, 
 indeed, any piece of land wholly or partially sur- 
 rounded by brooks or marshy country. It occurs 
 in Binsey, Charney, Cholsey, Goosey, Hanney 
 (or Hannay), Hinksey, Mackney, Pusey, Tubney. 
 (But not in Childrey.) 
 
 Binsey. Not far from Oxford, and near the 
 Thames. I can find little mention of it ; but R.T. 
 has Beneseia, which is a Latinised form of it. The 
 -es is the genitive case-ending of strong sbs. 
 ending in n, or even in i (later e) if the vowel is 
 short ; and Benes may represent the genitive of 
 *Beni, or of Byni, of which only the latter form is 
 found. The sense is probably ' Byni's isle'. The 
 y is short. 
 
 Charney. Beside the river Ock, in the Vale 
 of the White Horse. Also known as Charney 
 Basset, the Bassets being a Norman family who 
 owned land in Berks. Spelt Cerney, T.N. ; Cernee, 
 T.E. D.B. has Cemei; p. 8. The A.S. form is 
 Ceornei ; Birch, C.S. i. 506, 1. 2. The prefix is a 
 river-name ; it is spelt Cern in Birch, C.S.
 
 THE SUFFIX -EY 35 
 
 iii. 238. In the Chronicle of Abingdon, i. 29, we 
 find ' flumen . . Cim-ea ' ; where ea is the A.S. for 
 ' river ' or ' stream '. In Birch, ii. 60, it is spelt 
 Cyrn-ea. There is a river Ceme in Dorsets., which 
 flows into the Frome. The name is probably Celtic ; 
 there is a river Cerniog in Montgomeryshire, 
 which flows into the river Carno ; and the latter 
 joins the Severn. The sense of Charney is 'Cern- 
 isle ', or ' isle in (or beside) the Cern '. 
 
 Cholsey. Beside a stream that joins the 
 Thames. Spelt Celsei in D.B. ; p. 2. The 
 boundaries are given in a charter of Alfred, in 
 Birch, C.S. ii. 206 ; where the dat. case appears 
 as Ceolslge; from the nom. Ceols-Ig. Here Ceols 
 is for Ceoles, gen. of the personal name Ceol. The 
 sense is ' Ceol's isle '. Of course Taylor is wrong 
 in explaining ceol here as meaning 'ship' or ' keel'. 
 The s shows that it is a man's name. 
 
 Goosey. Beside a stream that joins the river 
 Ock. Spelt Goseye, T.E. ; de Goseya (Latin), R.B. ; 
 Gosei, D.B., p. 7. The A.S. form is Gos-Ig, of 
 which the dative Gos-ige occurs in Birch, C.S. iii. 
 69 ; where the boundaries of Goosey are given. 
 Among the boundaries are mentioned the mcer-dic, 
 or boundary-ditch, a brook called Teale-burn, the 
 river Ock, and another stream and brook ; so that 
 it was once isolated. The sense is ' goose isle '. 
 
 Hanney, West and East. West Hanney lies 
 between two affluents of the river Ock. Spelt 
 Hanney, R.C. ; Hanneie, R.B. ; Hannei, D.B., p. 9. 
 The boundaries of Hanney are given in a
 
 36 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 charter dated 956 ; the dative set Hannlge occurs 
 there, in Birch, C.S. iii. 129. The nominative is 
 Hann-ig ; where the prefix appears to represent 
 han-, the form which hana, a cock, takes in com- 
 pounds, as in han-cred, e cock-crow.' The sense, 
 accordingly, is 'cock isle' ; with reference, perhaps, 
 to water-hens (Taylor). Compare Goosey above, 
 and Hendred, p. 86. 
 
 Hinksey, North and South. Near Oxford and 
 the Thames. In an Abingdon charter, printed in 
 Birch, C.S. i. 505, we find it spelt Hengestesie ; 
 and in a note printed on p. 506 it appears as 
 Hengestes-ieg. The sense is obvious from this 
 form, viz. ( Hengest's isle'. Similarly, Hinxton 
 (Cambs.) means ' Hengest's town' ; and Hinxworth 
 (Herts.) means e Hengest's worth (or farm) '. The 
 latter is spelt Haingeste uuorde in D.B. Hengest 
 was a personal name, not merely (as Taylor says) 
 a horse. 
 
 Mackney. Near a stream that joins the Thames 
 at Wallingford. Spelt Mackeney, T.N. ; F.A. 
 (1428). The A.S. gen. Maccaniges occurs in 
 a grant of land near Mackney and Wallingford 
 dated 957 ; see Birch, C.S. iii. 184. The nom. is 
 Maccan-ig. The prefix Maccan is the gen. case of 
 the personal name Macca. The sense is ' Macca's 
 isle'. 
 
 Pusey. It lies between streams that unite and 
 flow into the Ock, just above Charney. Spelt 
 Pusey, Ipm., p. 159; Pesy, H.R. ; Pesey, T.N. ; 
 Piiftie, Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 5 (1066-87);
 
 THE SUFFIX -EY 37 
 
 Pesie, id. ii. 121 (1100-35). D.B. has Pesei in 
 Gamesfelle hundred; p. 14. It is the same name as 
 Pewsey in Wilts. ; the latter appears as Pevesey in 
 JViltes'., P.R. Both forms result from contraction. 
 The dat. case Pefeslgge occurs in King JElfred's 
 will ; see Birch, C.S. ii. 178, line 1. In the same, 
 ii. 469, the boundaries are given of land set 
 Peuesige ; where u has the sound of v. Spelt 
 Pevesy in the same, ii. 187, and Pefesy (with /for v), 
 ii. 1 82. The A.S. nom. is Pefes-Ig, where/ has the 
 sound of v ; and Pefes is the genitive of a strong 
 masculine form *Pefi, of which we have no other 
 record. The sense, accordingly, is ' Pen's isle '. 
 (The e is short.) The name Pef-i (from an older 
 *Pabi) can fairly be concluded from the fact that 
 its derivative *Pab-jon- would give the form Pebba 
 (since bj becomes bb in A.S.). Pebba is implied 
 in Pebbe-ivorthe (Ipm.), the Middle English form of 
 Pebworth, Glouc. ; and Pavenham, Beds., probably 
 represents ' Paba's home '. 
 
 Tubney. It lies to the NW. of Marcham, 
 beside an affluent of the river Ock. Spelt Tobbeney, 
 F.A. (1316); Tubbeney, T.N. The later form 
 Tubney occurs in V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). D.B. 
 has Tobenie ; p. 6. The same prefix occurs in the 
 A.S. Tubban-ford, which was in the same neigh- 
 bourhood ; see Birch, C.S. ii. 514. Tubban is here 
 the gen. of Tubba ; and the latter place-name 
 means 'Tubba's ford', just as Tubney means 
 'Tubba's isle'. No doubt the same Tubba is 
 commemorated in both names. 

 
 38 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Field. 
 
 Field, from the A.S. f eld, often signified a tract 
 of open country. It occurs in ArborfielcL Binfield, 
 Bradfield, Burghfield, Englefield, Fyfield, Ganfield, 
 Shinfield, Straffield, Swallowfield, Warfield, Watch- 
 field, Winkfield, and Wokefield. 
 
 Arbor field. This name is comparatively 
 modern, and hardly older than the 15th century. 
 It is spelt Arburfeld in V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). 
 The prefix is the M.E. erber or herber, from the 
 Anglo-French herber, Old French herbier, Lat. 
 herbarium, a herb-garden ; at first applied to a 
 garden-lawn, and afterwards transformed (after 
 many changes in sense and some in form) into the 
 modern E. arbour. See the full account in the 
 N.E.D., s.v. arbour. 
 
 Binfield. Spelt Bynfeld, V.E. (temp. Henry 
 VIII). Earlier Benefeld, F.A. (1316), Ab. ; Bene- 
 feud (with ud for Id), Ipm. p. 72, which is cox*rectly 
 described as being not far from Windsor Forest ; 
 Benetfeld, Ipm. p. 46, and Ipm. vol. 2 ; Bentfeld, 
 Ipm. vol. 2. Thus Binfield, formerly Benfeld, is 
 short for Bentfeld, and that again for Benetfeld. 
 The prefix is the A.S. beonet, noted in the A.S. 
 Diet, by Clark Hall, the same word as the prov. E. 
 bennet, bent, a kind of coarse grass ; see E.D.D. and 
 bent, sb. (1) in the N.E.D. The sense is ' field 
 containing bent-grass '. 
 
 Bradfield. Spelt Bradefeld, H.R. ; R.B. ; Brad- 
 feld, V.E. D.B. has Bradefelt ; p. 10. The A.S. 
 form appears in a Latin charter (a.d. 688-690) 
 as Bradanfelda ; Birch, C.S. i. 108. Here Bradan
 
 THE SUFFIX -FIELD 39 
 
 is the weak dative of A.S. brad, broad ; and the 
 sense is 'broad field'. The dative of the A.S. 
 fe/d is not felde, but felda (as above). 
 
 Burghfield. To the SW. of Reading. Spelt 
 Burfcld, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). Earlier, Burg- 
 feld, Burghfield, Ipm. ; Burghefelde, F.A. (131 6). 
 D.B. has Borgefel; p. 14. The prefix represents 
 the A.S. burh, a borough ; and the literal sense 
 is 'borough-field'. It may be remarked here that 
 burh was also used to denote ' a small fort ' ; which 
 suits better. 
 
 Englefield. Spelt Englefeld, H.R. D.B. has 
 Englejel, p. 1 ; and, on the same page, Inglefelle in 
 Radingps hundred, i. e. in the hundred of Reading. 
 It appears as Engla feld in the A.S. Chronicle, 
 under the date 871 ; which means 'field of the 
 Angles '. Engla is the gen. pi. ; and occurs again 
 in Engla land, ' the land of the Angles,' i. e. 
 ' England'. 
 
 Fyfield. Near Marcham; to the W. of Abingdon. 
 Called Fifeld in V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). But in 
 the preceding century it was certainly called Fifhide, 
 as Lysons says. Spelt Fifhide in the Index to 
 Charters (1437) ; and so in R.B. D.B. has Fivehide 
 in yierceham hundred; p. 10. In an A.S. charter 
 dated 9^6 there is an allusion to it in the expression 
 to J'if hldum, meaning ' to five hides ' ; hide being 
 here a measure of land ; Birch, C.S. hi. 1 68. Thus 
 the original sense was ' five hides ' ; afterwards 
 altered to ' five fields ', or (in one word) 'five-field'. 
 Taylor remarks that ' Fifield, Essex, is Fif-hide in 
 Domesday '.
 
 40 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Ganfield. This is the name of one of the 
 Berks, hundreds, situate between the Thames and 
 the Ock, and containing, for example, Pusey. 
 D.B. has Pesei [Pusey] in Gamesfelle hundred, p. 14; 
 and again, at p. 7, in Gamenesfelle hundred. Thus it 
 appears that Gan- is an abbreviated form of Games, 
 Gamenes ; and the Hundred Rolls have Gamenes- 
 feld. The A.S. Gamen (gen. gamenes) means f a 
 game' or f sport ' ; but it is hardly conceivable 
 that gamenes feld could have been a correct ex- 
 pression, any more than we should now speak of 
 a cart's horse. The A.S. expression for ' playfield ' 
 would rather have been gamen-feld. The use of 
 the genitive in -es implies the use of a man's name ; 
 and, as Gamenes-feld is a form later than the 
 Conquest, it is tolerably certain that it was a per- 
 version of Gameles feld, i. e. ' field of Gamel '. 
 Gamel (also Gamal) is a well-established name, of 
 which there are at least six instances ; and it 
 seems to have entered freely into place-names. 
 Ipm. (vol. i) has the forms Gamelesby, Gameles- 
 ton(now Gamston), Gamelsthorp, Gamilswath; cf. 
 Gamblesby (from Gamelesby) in Cumberland, and 
 Gamelingay in Cambs. The last means 'isle of 
 the Gamelings, or of the sons of Gamel '. Gamel, 
 or gamal, or gamol was, in quite early times, a 
 perfectly common word, meaning simply ' old ' ; 
 and though it perished in England at an early 
 date, it is still as common in Scandinavia as the 
 word old is in England. In fact, the Scandina- 
 vians have no use for the word old at all ; in 
 Denmark everything old is gammel, and in Sweden 
 it is gammal. The sense ' field of Gamel ' is per-
 
 THE SUFFIX -FIELD 41 
 
 fectly intelligible. It cannot mean ' field of play '. 
 A similar substitution of n for / in an unstressed 
 syllable occurs again in the case of Watchfield, 
 p. 43. And after all, the A.S. gamcl still'survives as 
 a proper name, in the forms Gammel and Gamble. 
 
 Shinfield. To the S. of Reading. Formerly 
 trisyllabic. Spelt Schyn?iyngfeld,V.~E. ; Shenyngfeld, 
 Ab.; Shenyngfelde, F.A. (1316); H.R. ; Senefeld, 
 R.B. ; Shy nyngf eld, Index; Schunnyngj eld, Ipm. D.B. 
 has Scanesfe/t ; p. 3 (which may refer to Shinfield, 
 but is clearly incorrect). The prefix is the same 
 as that which appears in the old forms of Shingay 
 (Carnbs.) ; formerly Skening-ay, as explained in 
 my Place-names of Cambs. The A.S. form of it 
 would be Scleninga (Sceninga, Scyninga), gen. pi., 
 meaning ' of the Sclenings or sons of Selene '. 
 And the sense of Shinfield must have been ' field 
 of the Scienings '. The A.S. Selene is not recorded 
 as a personal name by itself, but it forms part of 
 the name Scen-wulf, which occurs in the Liber 
 Vitae of Durham. As an adj., the A.S. sciene (more 
 frequently scene, scyne), meaning f fair, beautiful ', 
 being the exact equivalent of the Ger. sch'on, is 
 extremely common. The variable vowel shows 
 that the above solution is correct. The forms 
 with Sheiiing- are due to scene ; and the forms 
 with Shynyng-, Schun(ii)yng-, are due to scyne. 
 
 Straffield, or Stratfield Mortimer. Straftield 
 is merely an assimilated form of Stradfield or 
 Stratfield. Called Stratfeld Mortymar, V.E. ; 
 Stratf eld Mortimer, Ipm. ; H.R. D.B. has Strad- 
 feld in Redinges hundred, i. e. in Reading hundred ; 
 
 1257 F
 
 42 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 p. 14. The corresponding A.S. form is straet-feld, 
 and the sense is ' street-field ' ; or field near an 
 old high-way (often of Roman construction). The 
 Mortimers were a Norman family who owned 
 much land in various counties. The entry Ed- 
 mundus de Mortuo Mari (in Ipm.) shows that 
 Mortimer once meant the Dead Sea. 
 
 Svvallowfield. The sense is obvious. Spelt 
 S waif eld, H.R. ; Swalefeld, T.N. ; Swaleewefeld, 
 R.B. ; Solafel, D.B., p. 16. From the Mercian 
 smalrve, A.S. swealwe, a swallow. 
 
 Warfield. Spelt War f eld, R.C. ; Ipm. ; Ware- 
 felde, F.A. (131 6); Warwelt, D.B., p. 3. I take 
 the prefix to represent the A.S. wcer, an occasional 
 spelling of iver, whence modern E. weir. The 
 usual sense of A.S. iver was ( a fishing-pool ', as 
 explained in my Place-names of Cambs., s.v. 
 Upware. The sense was probably f field beside a 
 pool '. (The mod. E. war is from the Norman iverre.) 
 
 Watchfield. Near Shrivenham. The form has 
 been shortened. Spelt Wachenesfeld,T.T$.; D.B., 
 p. 7. The A.S. forms require care. Wachenesfeld 
 answers to A.S. Wacenesfeld, Birch, C.S., i. 
 224 ; spelt Uuacenesfeld, id. i. 506. But neither 
 of these copies is of much authority. A far 
 better copy is printed in the same, ii. 360. 
 Here the boundaries of Watchfield are given, 
 headed l Mete de Wachenesfeld ', which I take to 
 be a later addition, on account of the use of ch ; 
 and Birch prints it in italics. The same spelling 
 occurs in the headline, which I suppose to repre-
 
 THE SUFFIX -FIELD 43 
 
 sent a late endorsement. But in 1. 3 of the 
 charter itself (dated 931) we find the true old 
 spelling, viz. Waeclesfeld, which makes far better 
 sense. Waecles, variant of Wacles, is a correct form 
 of the gen. case of the A.S. wacol, ' wakeful, 
 vigilant,' here used as a proper name. Hence 
 the sense is l Wacol' s field '. (It may be remarked 
 that this is the only example hitherto noted of the 
 use of wacol as a personal name, but the equivalent 
 form wacor, with the same sense, has been noted 
 as so occurring twice, with the spelling Wacer.) 
 It is clear that the old form Waeclesfeld was 
 altered to Wacenesfeld by the confusion of the 
 old adj. wacol with the abstract sb. wacen, meaning 
 'vigilance' or 'keeping watch', which was not 
 ideally adapted for use in place-names that deal 
 with the concrete. And further, as the sense of 
 wacen was connected with the idea of watching, 
 the modern name Watchfield easily resulted. The 
 case of Wakefield is different, because the wakes 
 held in fields had no such abstract sense, but were 
 very substantial. Cf. p. 41, 1. 2. 
 
 Winkfield. Spelt Wink field, P.R. ; Winckefeld, 
 T.E. ; Wynekefeld, T.E. ; Wynekfeld, F.A. (131 6). 
 The A.S. form Winecan-felda (dative) occurs in 
 Birch, C.S. ii. 5l5, in a charter dated 942. The 
 sense is ' Wineca's field '. Wineca seems to be a 
 diminutive of the common personal name Wine, of 
 which the literal sense is ' friend '. 
 
 Wokkpield. In Stratfield Mortimer (Kelly). 
 Wokcfidd, Berks., is mentioned in Ab., and in the 
 Index to Charters (1424). The prefix Woke- is
 
 44 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 due to the Wocc- seen in the tribal name of the 
 Wocc-ingas, whence the place-name Woking is 
 derived. The gen. case Wocc-es occurs in Wocces- 
 geat, for which see Birch, ii. 242, 1. 5. We must 
 either explain Wokefield as being from this strong 
 form Wocc (which should rather have given 
 Wokes-field), or from an allied weak form *Woeca 
 (gen. Woccan) of which we have no other record. 
 
 Ford. 
 
 The suffix -ford has its usual meaning. There 
 are several names with this ending, viz. : Appleford, 
 Boxford, Denford, Duxford, Frilford, Garford, 
 Hatford, Hungerford, Lyford, Moulsford, Sand- 
 ford, Sandleford, Shefford, Shellingford, Stanford, 
 Twyford, Wallingford, Welford. 
 
 Appleford. D.B. has Apleford ; p. 7. The A.S. 
 form is /Eppelford ; in Birch, C.S. ii. 224. From 
 A.S. ceppel, an apple. The sense is 'apple-tree 
 ford '. Cf. Boxford and Welford. 
 
 Boxford. On the river Lambourn, to the NW. 
 of Speen. Apparently the same place as Boxworth 
 in V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). But the older name 
 was Boxore ; see Lysons, Hist, of Berks, p. 245. 
 Spelt Boxhore (with intrusive h), Ipm. p. 4. D.B. 
 has Bovsore ; p. 6. Spelt Boxora in Birch, C.S. i. 
 506 ; iii. 221 ; which gives the A.S. spelling. 
 The A.S. box means ' box-tree'; and Boxford 
 means ' box-tree ford '. Cf. Appleford above, and 
 Welford. The A.S. ora means ' river-bank ' or 
 shore ; cf. Bagn-or, &c, p. 81. From the oblique
 
 THE SUFFIX -FORD 45 
 
 case box-wan we may explain the form Bochesome 
 in D.B. ; p. 15. 
 
 Denford. Situate in Avington, near the N. 
 bank of the river Kennet. Spelt Deneford, Ipm. ; 
 but with reference to Denford in N'hants. Also 
 Deneford, R.C. ; apparently with reference to Den- 
 ford in Berks. D.B. has Dane ford, p. 11. In 
 Wulfgar's will, printed in Birch, ii. 366-7, we find 
 the dative Denforda (various reading Daenforda) 
 with reference to Denford, probably in Berks. ; it 
 is connected with Inkpen and with Cynetan-byrig 
 (Kintbury). The form Dam- suggests a derivation 
 from the A.S. dcen, variant of dcenn, derm, a den, 
 lair, cave, also a woodland pasture for swine ; 
 a word closely related to denu, a valley. In the 
 last sense it occurs in many local names; see 
 Birch, iii. 490 : 'this daen is genamod Hyringdaenn' ; 
 and the references in Toller's Supplement to 
 Bosworth's A.S. Diet., pp. 148, 149. The later 
 forms Deneford,Daneford mayhave been influenced 
 by the A.S. denu, a valley, or by Dene, pi. Danes. 
 Some have derived Denford from Dene, ' Danes ', 
 to suit certain theories, but Mr. Stevenson points 
 out that denu, a valley, is quite as likely ; see his 
 note to Asser's Life of Alfred, p. 275. But the 
 right source is the A.S. daen. The sense is 'ford 
 near the swine-pasture '. 
 
 Duxford. Situate by the Thames, near Hinton 
 Waldrist. Spelt Ditdochesforde in D.B., which 
 notes that it is in Game/el (Ganfield) hundred. 
 This evidently answers to' the A.S. form Duduces- 
 ibrd. The strange personal name Duduc occurs
 
 46 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 at least ten times (Searle). The original sense 
 was ' Duduc's ford '. 
 
 Frilford. Near Marcham, on an affluent of the 
 Ock. Spelt F.rileford, Ipm. ; Frylesford, F.A. ; 
 later Fryleford, F.A. (1428). Spelt F.rileford in 
 Birch, C.S. hi. 428, no. 1170 ; but the copy seems 
 to be late. The spelling Fryles-ford suggests 
 that the prefix is the same as in Frils-ham. If 
 so, Frilford is a contraction of ( Frithel's (or 
 Frithuwulf s) ford '. Violent contractions of this 
 character are common in place-names. See 
 Frilsham, p. 56. 
 
 Garford. Situate near Marcham, beside the 
 river Ock. Spelt Gareford, T.N. ; T.E. The A.S. 
 form is Garan-forda (dative) in a grant of land at 
 Garford to the thegn Wulfric, dated 940. The 
 sense appears to be Gara's ford. The former a 
 was probably once long (Gara), since Gar- is 
 a common prefix in such names as Gar-beorht, 
 Gar-beald (Searle). It was shortened before the 
 consonantal combination rf; or it would now be 
 Goreford. The A.S. gara also means a ' gore ', or 
 triangular piece of land ; see E.D.D. 
 
 Hatford. To the N. of Stanford, which is in 
 the Vale of the White Horse, and situate beside 
 a small stream that flows into the river Ock. 
 Originally trisyllabic. Spelt Hatford, V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII); but Havedford in T.N. ; and 
 Hautford in the Index to the Charters (1420). 
 D.B. has Hevaford in Merceham (Marcham) hundred ; 
 p. 13. Here Heva is evidently an error for Hevad, 
 as the dental is still preserved. The forms haved,
 
 THE SUFFIX -FORD 47 
 
 herad point clearly to the A.S. heqfod, ' head ', 
 found in M.E. as hceved, hcej'd, heved, &c. The 
 sense appears to be ' head-ford ' ; or c ford near the 
 head of the stream '. 
 
 Hungerford. Situate on the S. bank of the 
 river Kennet. Spelt Hungerford, Ipm. ; P.R. ; 
 R.C. ; Hungreford, R.T. ; Hungerforde, R.B. But 
 it is improbable that the prefix should be 
 the modern E. hunger. A simpler solution is 
 suggested by the fact that the older name of 
 Hungerhill, near Nottingham, was Hongerhill ; see 
 Records of Nottingham, ed. W. H. Stevenson, 
 vol. i. pp. 374, 434. Mr. Stevenson well derives 
 Honger from the A.S. hongra, variant of hangra, 
 whence prov. E. hanger, a hanging wood on a hill- 
 side ; see E.D.D. See also the examples higran 
 hongran and cylf hongran in Birch, C.S. ii. 206 ; and 
 sadol hongran in the same, iii. 589- If this be 
 right, the sense is 'ford near the hanging wood '. 
 Cf. Appleford, Welford. 
 
 Lvford. Situate beside the Ock, between 
 Stanford and Garford. Spelt Lvford, Ipm. p. 203 ; 
 Li ford, H.R. But an older form was certainly 
 Linford ; so that n has been lost. This is clearly 
 shown by the account of the boundaries of land at 
 Garford printed in Birch, C.S. ii. 489; where we read 
 that the boundary runs thus : ' Of Garan-forda 
 and-lang Eoccen oth thaet thaer Cilia suth ut scyt ; 
 thonne up and-lang Cilia rithe oth Linfordinga 
 gemaere ' ; i. e. from Garford along the Ock until 
 the stream from Childreth goes out southward ; 
 then along the Childreth-stream as far as the
 
 48 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 boundary of the Linfordings, or dwellers in 
 Linford. It is obvious that this Linford can only 
 be Lyford. Again, in Birch, C.S. ii. 552, Linford 
 is described as lying between the Ock and the 
 stream from Childreth. This must of course be 
 Lyford. Yet again, in the Abingdon Chronicle, 
 ii. 192, Linford is mentioned in connexion with 
 Tubney. But we must go yet a step further ; for 
 it is unlikely that even Linfoi'd is the original 
 form, as it would mean '.flax ford ' ; whereas fords 
 are generally referred to more permanent objects. 
 The riddle is not difficult ; for Linford in Bucks., 
 near Newport Pagnell, is referred to in Ipm. p. 30 
 as e Lindford maner in Neuporte fee, Bucks.' 
 The right form is obviously Lindford ; cf. 'on lind- 
 ford' in Birch, iii. 288, in the boundaries of 
 Ringwood, Hants. This lind is the A.S. form of 
 what is now called the lime-tree, by an extra- 
 ordinary corruption of the Shakespearian form line 
 (as in line-grove, Tempest, A. v. 1. 10, in the First 
 Folio). The fact that the A.S. form lind actually 
 dropped the d and lengthened the i, helps us to 
 see that Lyford is nothing but ' line-ford ', or ' ford 
 near the lime-tree .' Cf. Appleford, Welford. 
 
 Moulsford. On the Thames, to the S. ot 
 Wallingford. Spelt Mul les ford, Ipm. The pre- 
 fix is the same as in Moulsey (Surrey) ; A.S. 
 Mules-eg (in Kemble's Index). From the A.S. 
 Mules, gen. of Mul, a known personal name. 
 The A.S. mul (from Lat. mulus) also means 'mule'; 
 it became moid in Middle English, and so occurs 
 in the Cursor Mundi, 1. 6001. But it is now ob-
 
 THE SUFFIX -FORD 49 
 
 solete, having been superseded by the O.F. mid 
 (from Lat. midum, ace), which is now written 
 mule. Hence Moulsford means ' Mul's ford' or 
 ' Mule's ford ' ; taking Mule to represent the per- 
 sonal name. 
 
 Sandford. Near Besilsleigh. The derivation 
 is obvious ; from sand and ford. The dat. Sand- 
 forda occurs in Birch, C.S. i. 490 ; and there is an 
 interesting allusion to the Sandfordinga gemaere, 
 i.e. the boundary of the Sandfordings or dwellers 
 in Sandford in the same, ii. 374. 
 
 Sandleford. There is a Sandleford Priory on 
 the N. side of the river Emborne (or Enborne) 
 which forms a part of the S. boundary of the 
 county. It is spelt Sandelford in H.R. ; R.C. ; 
 T.E. ; V.E. In P.R. the expression ( pro priore 
 de Sandlesford' occurs thrice, and furnishes a 
 clue, as it shows that Sandles here represents the 
 gen. case of a personal name. There is only one 
 name on record that will fit, viz. Sandwulf, or (in 
 a shorter form) Sandolf. Sandles clearly stands 
 for Sandols, and that for Sandolves, a late form of 
 the gen. of Sandolf. There are many examples 
 in which nndf, as the second element in a name, 
 is so attenuated as to be absolutely unrecognisable. 
 The present case is not stranger than that of 
 the A.S. Eadwulfes treow, 1 which is an old form 
 of Elstree in Herts. Here tvulfes is reduced to Is, 
 whereas, in the case of Sandleford, it is reduced 
 
 1 Even Eadwulfes seems to have arisen from Tidwulfes ; 
 by changing aet Tidwulfes to aet Eadwulfes, 
 1257 G
 
 50 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 to le. But Sand- is much better preserved than 
 End-, reduced as it is to E. 
 
 Shefford. On the river Lambourne. There 
 is a Great or West Shefford, and a Little or East 
 Shefford. Spelt Shifford Magna and Parva, V.E. ; 
 Sipford, Cl.R. ; Sip ford (hundred de Egle), T.N. ; 
 Westsipford, T.N. f West Shefford, F.A. (1316). 
 D.B. has Siford (in Eglei hundred); p. 13. The 
 same name as Stafford in Oxon., A.S. Scypford, 
 i.e. ' sheep-ford ' ; see Kemble, CD., hi. 343. Cf. 
 prov. E. ship, a sheep ; and the numerous Shiptons. 
 
 Shellingford. On a stream that flows into 
 the river Ock from the north. Spelt Shillingford, 
 P.R. ; Schalinge ford, T.N. ; T.E. ; Sillingford, Ipm.; 
 Shallingford, F.A. (131 6); Shalingford, V.E. 
 (The original vowel in the first syllable was a.) 
 D.B. has Serengeford ; p. 8 (for Sherengeford). 
 An older form, Sannge ford (for Shari?igeford),occurs 
 in the Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 196. The A.S. 
 form is Scaringa-ford ; see Birch, C.S. ii. 373, 1. 3, 
 and 374. At p. 372, we find the curious Norman 
 form Xalingeford, with X for Sh. We thus see 
 that Shell- has resulted from A.S. Scar-. In con- 
 nexion with Scaringa, we may notice the form 
 Scaren-dene, in a Kentish charter; see Kemble, 
 Cod. Dipl. iv. 81, which suggests a proper name 
 Scara, not otherwise known. The original sense 
 of Shellingford was certainly 'ford of the Searings', 
 since Scaringa represents a gen. pi. And it is 
 further probable that the Searings were 'sons of 
 Scara ' or e the tribe or family of Scara '. 
 
 Stanford. There is a Stanford-in-the-Vale ;
 
 THE SUFFIX -FORD 51 
 
 i.e. in the Vale of the White Horse, and a Stan- 
 ford Dingley near Midgham. The church of the 
 latter contains a brass dated 1444, in memory of 
 Margaret, wife of William Dyneley, esquire to 
 Henry VI, which is supposed to explain Dingley 
 (Kelly). Spelt Stanford in D.B. ; p. 10. There 
 are many Stanfords ; all from the A.S. stein-ford, 
 i.e. 'stone ford'. 
 
 Twyford. On the Loddon, not very far from 
 the point where it enters the Thames. There is 
 here a double ford over the divided Loddon ; 
 and, as in the case of Twyford, Herts., the name 
 represents the A.S. twlford, ' double ford.' This 
 name-form is noticed in Beda, Eccl. Hist. bk. iv. 
 c. 28 (or 26) : ' in loco qui dicitur ad tidfyrdi, 
 quod significat ad duplex uaduni.' 
 
 Wallingford. On the Thames. The double 
 I is modern. Spelt Walingford, Robert of Glou- 
 cester; H.R. ; Walingeford, R.B. ; D.B., p. 1; 
 T.E. The A.S. forms are Welinga-ford, in Birch, 
 C.S. ii. 206, 568 ; and Wealinga-ford, in the A.S. 
 Chronicle, under the year 1 006 ; Walinge-ford in 
 the same, 1126; and Waling- ford in the same, 
 under 1 140. The sense is ' ford of the Wealings'; 
 where Wealing is related to the A.S. tvealh, lit. 
 ' foreigner ', but also used as a personal name. 
 We may further explain it as ' ford of the sons of 
 Wealh'. It need hardly be said that Walling- 
 ford is not derived from the c British Gua I hen-ford, 
 or old fort by the ford '. This is a pure invention, 
 as ford is an English word ; the Welsh being rhijd. 
 
 Welkoud. On the Lambourn. Spelt Welford,
 
 52 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; WeUeford, R.B. The 
 A.S. form (in a late copy) is Weliford ; Birch, C.S. 
 i. 506 ; but we find the true form set Weligforda, 
 in the same, iii. 29, in a charter dated 949- (It 
 is a peculiarity of ford that, like feld, it has a 
 dative in a ; such sbs. are few in number.) From 
 the A.S. welig, a willow. The sense is ' willow 
 ford '. Cf. Appleford, Boxford, Lyford ; also Ash- 
 ford (Kent), and Salford (Beds.). The last is named 
 from the A.S. salig, a sally-tree, or willow-tree. 
 
 Grave. 
 
 The suffix -grave represents the A.S. grcefe, dat. 
 of grqf, or grcef, ' a trench,' sometimes ' a grave '. 
 It occurs in Wargrave. 
 
 Wargrave. On the Thames. Spelt Wergrave, 
 R.B. ; R.C. ; Weregrave, F.A. (1316) ; Weregrauce, 
 Index to Charters (106 1-5). Wargrave is also the 
 name of a hundred ; called Weregrave hundred, 
 H.R. D.B. has Weregrave', p. 3. The prefix 
 were- represents the A.S. wera, gen. pi. of wer, a 
 man. Cf. Wera-horna in Birch, C.S. i. 552. The 
 sense is 'men's trench', or ' men's grave'. The 
 exact allusion is necessarily lost. 
 
 Hale. 
 The suffix -hale is explained in the N.E.D. 
 as meaning f a nook, a corner, a secret place'. 
 It is due to the Mercian hale, dat. of halh ; A.S. 
 heale, dat. of healh. The A.S. healh answers to 
 the modern E. haugh, a nook, corner ; so that, 
 grammatically, the form hale is the dative of
 
 THE SUFFIXES -HALE, -HAM 53 
 
 haugh, which was especially used to mean ' a flat 
 piece of alluvial land by the side of a river, forming 
 part of the floor of the river valley ' ; N.E.D. It 
 occurs in Bracknell. (It is not related to Icel. 
 hallr, as Taylor says.) 
 
 Bracknell. To the E. of Wokingham, and 
 SW. of Winkfield. It evidently corresponds to 
 the A.S. Braccan heal {for healh) mentioned in 
 a charter relating to Winkfield, dated 942 ; see 
 Birch, C.S. ii. 51 6, 1. 4. The dat. Braccan heale 
 occurs in the next line. (There is no personal 
 name Bracca on record.) Braccan may well 
 answer to the modern E. bracken, a kind of fern. 
 Note that many place-names begin with Farn-, 
 i. e. fern ; such as Farnham, Farnborough ; and 
 see Faring don, p. 32. The A.S. Dictionaries give 
 neither 'bracken' nor 'brake'; but the former 
 answers to braccan (as above), which is the 
 combining form of a sb. *bracca or *bracce (pi. 
 braccan) ; and the latter occurs in fearn-braca, 
 lit. 'fern-brakes', in Birch, C.S. ii. 295, last line. 
 The sense of Bracknell is, accordingly, ' bracken- 
 haugh ' or ' bracken-nook '. 
 
 Ham. 
 
 There are two suffixes of this form. One of 
 them answers to the A.S. ham, ' home,' and the 
 other to the A.S. hamm, 'enclosure,' whence the 
 modern E. verb to hem in. It is not always pos- 
 sible to say to which class a given example belongs ; 
 but sometimes the evidence is clear. The names 
 containing this suffix, from either source, or from
 
 54 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 an undetermined source, are here all taken 
 together, viz. Barkham, Beenham or Benham, 
 Bisham, Cookham, Crookham, Frilsham, Marcham, 
 Midgham, Remenham, Shrivenham, Sulham, 
 Thatcham, Waltham, Wickham, Wittenham, Wo- 
 kingham, and Wytham. 
 
 Barkham. To the S W. of Wokingham. Spelt 
 Barkam, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; Berkham, 
 F.A. (1316) ; Bercham, H.R. ; D.B. has Bercheham; 
 p. 3. The A.S. form is Beorcham, in Birch, C.S. 
 iii. 55 ; where its boundaries are duly given in a 
 charter dated 952. The prefix Beorc means 
 ' birch ' ; and the suffix most likely represents 
 ham, 'home.' The sense is 'birch-home', or 
 home near a birch-tree. 
 
 It may be remarked that the change from A.S. 
 ^eorc to Bark- is regular ; the mod. E. birch is not 
 derived from beorc, but from a by-form birce. Hence 
 there is here no violation of phonetic laws. 
 
 Beenham (or Benham) Valence. Benham is the 
 preferable form ; Beenham is a curious contraction 
 of Be(nn)enham, which ignores the nn. Spelt 
 Benham, R.C. ; R.B. ; H.R. ; T.E. ; F.A. (1316); 
 Benham Valence, Ipm. p. 214. In Ipm. p. 312, we 
 find Benham manerium among the lands held by 
 Adomarus de Valencia (Aymer de Valence), Comes 
 Pembroc. ; which explains the connexion with 
 Valence. D.B. has Beneham; p. 6. Also spelt 
 Benneham, D.B., p. 16 ; Binneham,T.N. The A.S. 
 form is Bennanham, Birch, C.S. iii. 274; or Bennan- 
 hamm, as shown by the expression 'set Bennan- 
 hamme ', id. iii. 120 (a.d. 956). Bennan is the gen.
 
 THE SUFFIX -HAM 55 
 
 of the personal name Benna, and hamm is here 'an 
 enclosure '. The sense is ' Benna' s enclosure '. 
 There is another Benham in the parish of Welford, 
 called Hoe Benham. Here Hoe represents the 
 A.S. hok, ' the spur of a hill.' 
 
 Bisham. On the Thames. Formerly Bisteham and 
 Bustleham (Lysons). Spelt Bustleham, H.R.; T.N. ; 
 Bustleskam, Ab.; V.E. ; F.A. (1316); Besllesham, 
 R. T. ; Bistlesham, R.C. (1 John) ; Cl.R. D.B. has 
 Bistesham in Benes hundred; p. 10. The A.S. form 
 does not appear, but we have the same prefix in 
 Bestles-ford, near Bradfield (on the Pang), Birch, 
 i. 108, 145, 147, ii. 206. At the last reference it is 
 also spelt Baestlaesford. Bsestles is the gen. of the 
 personal name Baestel ; and the suffix probably 
 means f home '. So that Bisham is ' Baestel's 
 home '. The same prefix occurs in Basilden, p. 28. 
 
 Cookham. On the Thames above Maidenhead. 
 Cookham is also the name of a hundred. Spelt 
 Cokam, R.B. ; Cokham hundred, H.R. ; Cocham, 
 Ipm. p. 29; Cucham, Ipm. p. 22. D.B. has 
 Cocheham in Benes hundred ; p. 2 ; where che is for 
 ke. In .Elfheah's will, we find aet Coccham and 
 aet Thaecham, before a. d. 971 ; see Birch, C.S. hi. 
 432. Kemble, Cod. Dipl. iii. 315, has to Cocham. 
 The spelling Cucham and the modern form seem 
 to point to the A.S. coc, 'a cook '; as if the sense 
 were ' cook-home'. But the older sense was 
 ' cock-home ' ; from the A.S. cocc. 
 
 Crookham. Near Brimpton, as shown in Bacon's 
 Atlas. It is worth notice, as the name is old and
 
 56 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 curious. Spelt Crokham, R.B. ; T.N. D.B. has 
 Crocheham ; p. 2 (with ch for k). In the boun- 
 daries of Brimpton, as given by Birch, C.S. ii. 559, 
 we find ' to Croh-hamme ', showing that the suffix 
 is ham?n, an enclosure. The A.S. croh is merely an 
 English form of the Lat. crocus, with the sense of 
 1 saffron '. The sense is ( saffron-enclosure '. 
 
 Frilsham. On the river Pang. Spelt Fridles- 
 ham, F.A. (131 6); H.R. ; Fridelesham, Pipe Rolls; 
 T.N. ; Ipm. ; Frydelysham, F.A. (1428); Fiy- 
 delsham; Index (1410). D.B. has Frilesham ; p. 9- 
 The prefix is possibly *Fritheles, gen. of *Frithel, 
 if there was such a name. Such a form seems to 
 be suggested by Frithelestok, Ipm. ; Frithelinga 
 die, Birch, C.S. ii. 260 ; Frithela byrig, id. iii. 
 201. But if, on the other hand, the name (as 
 often) has been much abbreviated, it may stand 
 for Fritholfes, gen. of Fritholf, a name which 
 occurs in Birch, C.S. iii. 369, and is a familiar 
 form of Frithuwulf. Thus the sense is either 
 ' Frithel's home ' or ' Frithuwulf s home '. There 
 is no evidence to show which is right. See 
 Frilford, p. 46. 
 
 March am. Near Abingdon. It was formerly 
 also the name of a hundred, as in D.B. Formerly 
 written M'cham (Merchant), T.E. D.B. has Merce- 
 ham ; p. 6. The boundaries of Marcham are given 
 in Birch, C.S. iii. 427, where we find the dat. 
 Merchamme, showing that the suffix is hamm, an 
 enclosure. The prefix is mere, mearc, ' a march ' 
 or boundary; and the sense is 'boundary-enclosure'. 
 The river Ock bounds the parish on the south,
 
 THE SUFFIX -HAM 57 
 
 Midgham. On the Kennet ; not far from 
 Brimpton (see p. 93). Spelt Migham, F.A. (131 6) ; 
 Migeham, T.N. D.B. has Migeham in Taceham 
 [Thatcham] hundred; p. 12. It is either the same 
 as Midghale, or close to it. We find Migehala, 
 Migehale, R.B. ; Migehala in Bernintun [Brimpton], 
 Pipe Rolls. In Kemble we find Mieghjema ge- 
 msera ; Cod. Dipl. hi. 193, 196; which shows 
 that the suffix is -ham, not -hamm, because -hsema 
 can only result from the former. The prefix micg 
 is a late spelling of A.S. mycg, a midge. The 
 sense is ' midge home '. It must be borne in 
 mind that many place-names are of trivial origin. 
 
 Rf.menham. On the Thames, below Henley. 
 Spelt Remenham, F.A. (1316); Remnant, V.E. ; 
 Remeham, T.N. But also Ramenham (1321), Index ; 
 Rammenham, Ipm. ; and D.B. has Rameham ; p. 3. 
 The variation between e and a in the first syllable 
 suggests that the A.S. vowel is ce ; and I have 
 little hesitation in connecting the prefix with the 
 A.S. hrcemn, hremn, both common late spellings of 
 hraefn, a raven. The second e is intrusive ; cf. the 
 spelling Remnam above. In such cases, the suffix 
 commonly means 'home' or 'dwelling'. The 
 sense appears to be 'raven home'. Cf. Midgham 
 (above). We may also compare the form Remnes- 
 dun, in Birch, C.S. hi. 363 ; i. e. ' Raven's down ', 
 where Raven is used as a personal name. 
 
 Surivenham. Near the western boundary ot 
 the county. Spelt Shrivenham, F.A. (131G); 
 Scriveham,'R.B.; Serivenham hundred, H.R. ; Scriven- 
 
 1257 n
 
 58 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 ham (for Shrivenhavi), D.B., p. 7 (noted as being in 
 a hundred of the same name). A charter in late 
 spelling has Scriuenham, Birch, C.S. i. 506 ; where 
 a variant in earlier spelling is given in a footnote 
 as Scrivenanhom, showing that the form has lost 
 a syllable. The full A.S. form is Scrifenan-hamm, 
 which appears in the dat. case in Kemble, Cod. 
 Dipl. vi. 131. As Scrifena is not a sb. in common 
 use, it must be a name. The sense is ' Scrifena's 
 enclosure '. 
 
 Sulham. To the W. of Reading. Spelt Sule- 
 Inrni, H.R. ; Ipm. In the Chronicle of Abingdon 
 I find the name of W. de Suleham ; and in the 
 Red Book, Rob. de Suleham. But there is also 
 a form Soleham, R.C. ; T.E. ; Ipm.; D.B., p. 12; 
 which seems to refer to the same place ; and in 
 D.B., p. 1 1, we find Solelut (sic) in Redinges hundred, 
 which must be Sulham. Another form is Soulham ; 
 Ipm., p. 203. The phonology offers great diffi- 
 culty, as it seems impossible to connect Sulham 
 with Sulhampstead, which is not many miles off; 
 for the alternative spelling of the latter is Sylhamp- 
 stead. The first vowel seems to be short x, for 
 which Norman scribes sometimes write o. In the 
 form Soulham, it seems to have been lengthened, 
 perhaps by mistake. I can find nothing to suit it 
 unless it be the prefix Sulan-, which occurs in 
 Sulangraf in a list of boundaries in Birch, C.S. ii. 
 384, 1. 21. The charter there printed is in late 
 spelling. Cf. also Sulan-ford and Sulan-broc ; id. 
 iii. 589- If this be correct, and if we may take 
 Sulan to be the gen. of an unrecorded personal
 
 THE SUFFIX -HAM 59 
 
 name Sula, the sense will be ( Sula's home '. But 
 I only offer this as a guess. 
 
 Thatcham. Formerly also the name of a hundred, 
 as in D.B. Spelt Thachame, T.E. ; Taccham, R.T. ; 
 Tacham, T.N. D.B. has Taccham hundred, p. 2, and 
 Taccham hundred, p. 8. Norman scribes often 
 write T for Th, especially at the beginning of a 
 name. The A.S. form is Th sec-ham, Birch, C.S. iii. 
 4-32. As the A.S. ihcec (lit. thatch) means e roof, 
 the reference seems to be to a house. The pro- 
 bable sense is ' roofed home ', or ' thatched house'. 
 
 Waltham. There are two places of this name, 
 to the SW. of Bray, viz. White Waltham and 
 St. Lawrence Waltham. The same name as the 
 better known Waltham in Herts., already dis- 
 cussed by me in the Place-names of Herts. The 
 spelling is Waltham in H.R. ; and we find Waltham 
 Sancti Laurentii in F.A. (131 6). D.B. has Waltham, 
 p. 8. The A.S. form is Wealtham ; Birch, C.S. 
 ii. 490 (in a charter supposed to refer to White 
 Waltham, dated a. d. 940) ; and again, in the 
 same, iii. 167, with regard to a Waltham in Hants. 
 In a still earlier charter, dated 909, we find the 
 form Wealth aaminga, gen. pi. ; Birch, C.S. ii. 285 ; 
 where the suffix implies derivation from ham, 
 ' home,' not hamm, ' enclosure.' 
 
 In my Place-names of Herts. I proposed an ety- 
 mology from *Wealtanham, as if ' home of Wealta', 
 a name not otherwise known. But the absence 
 of the suffix -an in charters so early as 909 and 
 940 suggests that we may regard Wealt-ham as 
 the right form. If we take ham to mean ' home '
 
 60 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 or 'house', tvealt must be inferred (from the adj. 
 un-wealt, 'steady/ or 'firm') to mean 'unsteady', 
 or 'infirm', i.e. ill-built, shattered, or decayed. 
 Cf. Icel. valtr, ' easily upset.' If we take the com- 
 pound to mean ' decayed house ', it is probable 
 enough that it is correct. A common error is to 
 explain Wealt- from weald, a wood ! 
 
 Wickham. Near Welford ; the latter is on the 
 Lambourn. Spelt Wicham, R.B. ; H.R. The A.S. 
 form is Wicham, in Birch, C.S. i. 506, where it is 
 mentioned along with several places in Berks. 
 There are several Wickhams, including one in 
 Cambs. and one in Herts. In my Place-names of 
 Cambs. and Herts. I have explained the name 
 from A.S. wic (from Lat. ulcus), 'a village,' and 
 ham, ' home,' relying on the form Wichjema. 
 But I now find that there is also a form Wic- 
 hamm, where hamm means ' enclosure '. The 
 evidence shows that Wickham, Cambs., means 
 ' village-enclosure ' ; whilst Wickham, Hants., 
 means 'village-home'. The sense of the Berks. 
 Wickham is left undetermined. 
 
 Wittenham. On the Thames, between Abing- 
 don and Wallingford. There is a Long Witten- 
 ham and a Little Wittenham ; the former is some- 
 times called West Wittenham. Spelt West Wy- 
 tenham, H.R. V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) has Whit- 
 tenham Comitis and Wittenham Abbatis ; Ipm. has 
 Wytenham. The A.S. form Wittanhamme occurs 
 in the dative in Birch, C.S. ii. 22-1, in the boun- 
 daries of Appleford. Hence the suffix is -hamm, 
 'enclosure.' The prefix is Wittan, gen. of Witta,
 
 THE SUFFIX -HAM 61 
 
 a personal name of which there are half a dozen 
 examples. The sense is ' Witta's enclosure '. 
 N.B. Mr. Zachrisson connects the spelling Witre- 
 ham in the Calendar of Documents preserved in 
 France, ed. J. H. Round (Rolls Series), with Wyt- 
 ham ; but this is not possible, as will be seen by 
 referring to the etymology of that place-name 
 just below. Witreham is only a Norman spelling 
 of the M.E. Witenham ; and therefore really re- 
 presents Wittenham. 
 
 Wokingham. Also called Oakingham or Ock- 
 ingham (Kelly). Spelt Wokingham, F.A. ; Cl.R. ; 
 Wokingeham, T.N. ; Cl.R., vol. 2 ; Okyngham, 
 V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; Okingham, 1568, Index. 
 The loss of W is rather late. The prefix Wokinge- 
 represents the A.S. gen. pi. Woccinga, from 
 the nom. pi. Woccingas, or ' sons of Wocc ', to 
 whom is due the name of Woking, in Surrey. 
 The gen. Wocc-es occurs in Wocces-geat, i.e. 
 ' Wocc's gate ' ; Birch, C.S. ii. 242, 1. 5. The suf- 
 fix probably means ( home ' ; and the sense may 
 be ' home of the Woccings, or sons of Wocc '. 
 Woking is spelt Wocking, in Cl.R. vol. 2. 
 
 Wytham. To the NW. of Oxford. Also 
 Wightham (Lysons). Spelt Wightham, V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII). The A.S. form is Wihtham, in the 
 boundaries of Hinksey, B. iii. 201, 1. 1. Also 
 spelt Wictham, in the Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 
 312; and Uuihteham in the same, i. 270 (a.d. 
 968). The last suggests an original form Wihtan- 
 ham, where Wihtan is the genitive of Wihta, a 
 pet name for one of the numerous names begin-
 
 62 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 ning with Wiht, such as Wihtbeorht, Wihtbrord, 
 &c. The probable sense is ' Wihta's home ' ; 
 though the suffix is undetermined. 
 
 If we now reconsider the above cases, we see 
 that ham occurs with the sense of l enclosure ' 
 in Beenham, Crookham, Marcham, Shrivenham, 
 and Wittenham. The sense of ' home ' appears 
 in Midgham and Waltham ; perhaps also in 
 Cookham, Thatcham, and Wokingham. In the 
 remaining cases we have no indication as to the 
 right sense. 
 
 Hay. 
 
 The suffix -hay, meaning ' hedge ' or ' fence ', 
 is derived from A.S. hege, with the same meaning. 
 (There was also a Norman form haie, haye, of 
 Germanic origin, but this need not be here con- 
 sidered.) We must distinguish this hay from the 
 A.S. haga, ' a haw ' or hedge, and from the A.S. 
 hecg, whence the modern ' hedge ' really comes. 
 The only derivative is Woodhay. 
 
 Woodhay. To the S. of Kintbury. Spelt 
 Woodhay, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). Also spelt 
 Widehay, H.R. ; Wydehay, F.A. (131 6); T.N. 
 From A.S. wudu, also widn, 'wood'; which ac- 
 counts for the double form. The sense is ' wood- 
 fence '. 
 
 Hill. 
 
 A well-known word. Hence Coleshill and 
 Sunninghill. 
 
 Coleshill. On the river Cole. Spelt Coleshull, 
 T.N. ; F.A. ; Coleshidle, R.B. ; T.E. The Middle
 
 THE SUFFIXES -HILL, -HITHE 63 
 
 English forms for hill are hylle, Mile, hulle, Kentish 
 helle. D.B. has Coleselle in Wifol hundred ; p. 15. 
 It is now in Faringdon hundred. Spelt Coleshylle 
 once, and Colleshylle thrice, in Wynflaed's Will ; 
 see Thorpe, Diplomatarium, pp. 534, 535. The 
 suffix -es shows that the place was not named 
 from the stream ; the contrary is possible. The 
 personal names Col and Coll both occur. The 
 sense is < Col's hill ' or < Coil's hill '. N.B. There 
 is another Coleshill in Warwickshire, near which 
 another stream named Cole joins the river Tame. 
 
 Sunninghill. To the S. of Windsor. Spelt 
 Suninghull, H.R. ; Sunningehulle, R.T. The prefix 
 is the same as in Sunningwell, which see below. 
 The sense is ' hill of the Sunnings, or sons of Sun- 
 na '. See Sonning, p. 69- 
 
 Hithe. 
 
 Hithe means ' a port ' or ' haven ' ; Kemble ex- 
 plains it as ' a place that receives a ship on its 
 landing, a low shore, fit to be a landing-place for 
 boats ' ; or shortly, a landing-place. The only 
 example is Maidenhead. 
 
 Maidenhead. Spelt Maydenhythe, F.A. (1428) ; 
 * pro ponte de Maydenheth '', P.R. (1297-8). Here 
 heth is for hethe, a Kentish form of hithe, due to 
 a Kentish scribe ; the A.S. form is hyth. The 
 prefix is simply maiden, A.S. nuegden ; and the 
 sense is ' Maiden hithe '. Comically explained in 
 Kelly as ' midway wharf ! There is nothing extra- 
 ordinary about it. Cf. m&gdenne-brigce, lit. e maiden 
 bridge', in Kemble, Cod. Uipl. no. 680; vol. iii.
 
 64 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 259- One curious characteristic of our old 
 antiquaries is the persistence with which they 
 refuse to regard Maiden as being an English 
 word. In cases like Maiden Bower and Maiden 
 Castle they call it ' Celtic ' ; and they would 
 sooner call it Egyptian than admit it to be quite 
 a common English word. The modern use ot 
 -head for -hythe is absurd ; but ' maidenhead ' was 
 once so common, in place of e maidenhood ', that 
 it was easily accepted. I take the sense ot 
 Maidenhithe to be 'a. landing-place for maidens', 
 i. e. a place where landing from a boat was very 
 easily accomplished. According to the E.D.D., a 
 Roman road is sometimes called l a maiden way ', 
 as being easy to traverse in the days of ill-made 
 roads. We have a ' Maids' Causeway ' in Cam- 
 bridge ; it merely means ( well-paved walk' or 
 1 parade '. 
 
 Holt. 
 
 Holt, also spelt holt in Anglo-Saxon, means 
 a wood or copse ; see N.E.D. It only occurs in 
 Sparsholt. 
 
 Sparsholt. To the W. of Wantage. Formerly 
 Spersholt, P.R. ; Ipm. ; Speresholt, R.B. D.B. has 
 Spersolt, p. 3 ; Spersold, p. 7. Birch has set 
 Speresholte (dat.), C.S. iii. 358 (a.d. 963) ; Kemble 
 has aet Spaeresholte, Cod. Dipl. iv. 170 (charter 
 no. 820). The sense is f Spser's copse ' or ' Sper's 
 copse '. 
 
 Hurst. 
 
 Hurst, meaning a wooded eminence, a copse, 
 a wood, is common in Kent ; see N.E.D. The
 
 THE SUFFIX -HURST 65 
 
 A.S. form is hyrst. It occurs in Hui'st, and in 
 Baynhurst, Sandhurst, and Tilehurst. 
 
 Hurst. To the E. of Reading. We find la 
 Hurst, F.A. (1316) ; de la Hurst, T.E. A.S. hyrst, as 
 above. 
 
 Baynhurst. Now the name of a hundred that 
 contains Hurley and Cookham. The prefix is the 
 same as in Bayworth (for Baynworth, the n being 
 lost). The sense is ' Baega's copse ', or ' Baaga's 
 copse'. In D.B., p. 8, we find in Betters hundred; 
 where Betters appears to be merely a Normanised 
 form of Baynhurst ; and it appears in a still more 
 corrupt form in the entries of ' Cocheham [Cook- 
 ham] in Benes hundred ', p. 2 ; and ' Hurlei in Benes 
 hundred', p. 13 ; which show that Benes is really 
 Baynhurst. We find Benestr' Hundred in H.R. ; 
 apparently an error for Benerst. 
 
 Sandhurst. Spelt Sandhurst, F.A. (1316). Sand- 
 hyrst occurs in the dat. form Sandhyrste in Birch, 
 C.S. i. 366, with reference to Sandhurst in Kent. 
 The sense is obvious. 
 
 Tilehurst. To the W. of Reading. Spelt 
 Tylehurst, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; but earlier 
 Tigelhurste, T.N. ; Tygelhurst, T.E. ; Tyghelhurst, 
 F.A. (131 6). The A.S. Tigelhyrst appears in the 
 dat. Tigelhyrste, in Kemble, Cod. Dipl. iv. 157. 
 The A.S. tigel (borrowed from Lat. tegula) means 
 ' tile '. The sense is c tile copse ', whatever be the 
 reason. Tiles may have been made there. 
 
 1257
 
 66 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 -ING. 
 
 The suffix -ing is very different from the rest, 
 having a purely personal reference. Thus 'son of 
 Adam' is expressed in A.S. by Adaming. The 
 nom. sing, ends in -ing, and the gen. sing, in 
 -inges. The nom. pi. ends in -ingas, and the gen. 
 pi. in -inga. All four endings are common. The 
 pi. also has the sense of ' dwellers in', when it 
 follows a place-name. Thus Catmer-ingas means 
 'dwellers in Catmere '. Place-names containing 
 the A.S. -ing are Balking, Ginge, Lockinge, 
 Reading, Sonning, Wantage, and Wasing. 
 
 Balking, or Baulking. In the Vale of the 
 White Horse. A contracted form. Spelt Balk- 
 ing, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). Earlier Badeleking 
 Cl.R.; Bathelking (1286); Index. The A.S. forms 
 are Bedelacinge, Birch, C.S. iii. 25 ; Bathalacing, 
 id. iii. 358 ; Bada-lacing, id. 359 (various reading 
 Bathalacing). Of these, the oldest form is 
 Badalacing or Bathalacing (a. d. 963), which must 
 have lost a suffix, owing to its being already 
 quadrisyllabic. The full form would be Badalac- 
 inga, gen. pi. ; of which the sense is uncertain ; 
 but it probably means ' belonging to (lit. of) the 
 sons of Badalac'. And Badalac is probably 
 a Mercian form of Beadulac, a name composed of 
 the very common prefix Beadu (lit. ' battle '), and 
 the known suffix -lac (lit. ' play ') as in Guth-lac. 
 If this be right, Balking denotes a place where the 
 family of Beadulac settled. The form Bathalacing 
 may easily have arisen from drawingan unnecessary
 
 THE SUFFIX -ING 67 
 
 stroke through the d ; it first appears with a D in 
 the form BADALACING, in capital letters ; C.S. 
 iii. 358. But it is Badalacing at p. 359. 
 
 Ginge. East Ginge and West Ginge are in the 
 parish of Hendred, to the S. of West Hendred. 
 There is also a stream so named, sometimes 
 spelt Geenge ; but it was originally a place-name. 
 We find Genge manerium; Ipm. p. 151; Gac/ig', 
 Going', Geing, T.N. ; Est Genge, F. A. ; Estgeyng 
 (1225); Index (where Est = East). Also spelt Gainz, 
 in the Pipe Rolls (1155-6). D.B. has Gainz, p. 8 ; 
 where z has the sound of is or dz, and only 
 approximately represents the English sound of 
 a palatalised g (like modern E. J). Also Gainz, 
 Geinz, R.B. The oldest recorded form is Gseging 
 (better Gaeginge), Birch, C.S. iii. 257; whence the 
 later forms Gainge, id. iii. 173, Gaincg, iii. 67, and 
 Geinge, i. 506. The second g in Gaeginge was 
 a mere glide, like y in paying, and so was easily 
 lost. The original form must have been Gaeginga, 
 gen. pi., from Gaegingas, nom. pi. ; referring to 
 the ' sons (or family) of Gaega '. The name Gaega 
 is not in Searle, but can be inferred from the 
 equivalent modern E. Gay in such names as 
 Gaydon, Gayton, and Gaywood. Moreover, in 
 Kemble, Cod. Dipl. vi. 137, we find Gegan- 
 lege ; and in the same, vi. 148, we find Gage-leage ; 
 both variants of Ga>gan-leage, and implying 
 ( raegan, gen. of Gaega. 
 
 Lockinge. To the E. of Wantage. The ge is 
 sounded as;. There is an East Lockinge and a 
 West Lockinge (Kelly). It is certain that the o
 
 68 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 is a late substitution for a. Spelt Lokinge, V.E. 
 (temp. Henry VIII). But earlier it is Laking, 
 H.R. ; T.E. ; though it is Lokinge, Lokinges in 
 T.N. ; Westlokyng (1459), Index. D.B. has Lach- 
 inges in Wanetinz hundred (with ch for k), p. 8. 
 Spelt Lakinge (various reading Lacinge), Birch, 
 C.S. ii. 139- We should particularly notice the 
 description of the boundaries of Drayton in Birch, 
 C.S. iii. 234 and 279, where Laking and Waneting 
 (i. e. Wantage) are mentioned in similar terms. We 
 find : ' thonon on Lacing; andlang Lacing on Cealc- 
 ford ; thonon on mser-dic ; . . . thonon on Wanet- 
 inge ; andlang Waneting on Oeccene ' ; i. e. thence 
 to Laking ; along Laking to Chalkford ; thence 
 to the boundary-ditch ; . . . thence to Wantage ; 
 along Wantage to the river Ock. This suggests 
 that Lacing (like Waneting) is a tribal name. 
 Moreover, the a was long, and passed regularly 
 into o, after which it was shortened before the 
 strong stop k. Hence Lacing was probably named 
 from ' the Lacings ' or ' sons of Lac '. Lac is not 
 found elsewhere alone as a proper name, but it is 
 a very common word, and occurs in Guthlac. See 
 Balking; p. 66. Note particularly the D.B. form 
 Lachinges, and the form Lokinges in T.N. The 
 final -es answers to A.S. -as; whence we infertile 
 form Lacingas, nom. pi. ; a correct form. The 
 modern Lockinge may have well been due to the 
 gen. pi. Lacinga, later Lakinge ; after which the 
 g was palatalised, becoming j, whilst a became o. 
 The shortening of a stressed vowel in the first 
 syllable is not uncommon. Indeed, an example 
 occurs in the next name that follows.
 
 THE SUFFIX -ING 69 
 
 Reading. The ea, once long, is now short. Spelt 
 Radinges, R.B. ; F.A. ; Redinges, R.C. ; Radinge, 
 T.E. It -was also (and still remains) the name of 
 a hundred. Hundred de Radinge, F.A. (131 6); 
 H.R. D.B. has Redinges in Redinges hundred, 
 p. 5 ; also Radinges hundred, p. 9- The A.S. form 
 appears as Readingum in the A.S. Chronicle, an. 
 871, where it is in the dative plural; also as 
 RSdingan, a late form of the dat. pi., an. 1006. 
 We also find Readingan, dat. pi., in Birch, C.S. iii. 
 600 (last line). It thus appears that the old name 
 was Readingas, nom. pi., which the D.B. form 
 fairly well preserves. The sense is ' the sons (or 
 family, or tribe) of Read or Reada ', i. e. 'the Red'. 
 The adj. read, red, was very common, and is still 
 a common surname in the forms Read, Reid, Reade, 
 &c. Strangely enough, it is not in Searle's list ; 
 whilst, on the other hand, the unallied abstract 
 sb. rd'd, lit. ' advice', is common both as a prefix 
 and suffix, as in Rjedwulf, iElfred. 
 
 Sonning. On the Thames, below Reading. 
 Formerly spelt Sunninges, Pipe Rolls ; C'l.R. ; T.N. ; 
 Suninges, H.R. ; Sunninge, T.N. It is also the 
 name of a hundred; hence we find Suninge hundred, 
 H.R. ; hundred de Sonnynge, F.A. (1316). Also 
 Sonnynges (with o), T.E. The Normans wrote on 
 for the A.S. un, as in A.S. sunu, modern E. son. 
 Hence D.B. has So?iinges, p. 5. In a late copy of 
 an early charter we find the A.S. form given as 
 Sunninges, Birch, C.S. i. 56, 1. 5. For Sunningas, 
 i. e. ' the sons (or family) of Sunna ', rather than 
 'of Sunne', i.e. the sun. We must remember
 
 70 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 that sunne, f sun,' was feminine. In either case, 
 we may say that Sonning took its name from ' the 
 Sunnings ' . We may compare Sundon, Beds., from 
 the A.S. Sunnan-dun ; where sunnan can either be 
 the gen. of a masc. surma, or of the fern, sunne. 
 It is just possible that both Sonning and Sundon 
 referred originally to sun-worship. Our present 
 Sunday represents an A.S. Sunnan-daeg. Cf. also 
 Sunninghill (p. 63) and Sunningwell (p. 105). 
 
 Wantage. The form must be somewhat modern, 
 as the name is still Wanting in V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII). Earlier we find Wanatinge, Wanet- 
 inge, R.B. ; Waneting, R.C. ; T.N. It was also (and 
 still is) the name of a hundred ; hence we find 
 Waneting hundr , H.R. D.B. has Wanetinz in 
 Wanetinz hundred, p. 3 ; where z represents ts or 
 dz, though the English sound intended was rather 
 that of our j (written ge). The A.S. forms are 
 Waneting, in Birch, C.S. ii. 178 ; hi. 279 ; Wanet- 
 inge, hi. 234 ; Waeneting, hi. 508. The forms 
 Wanetinge, R.B., Wanetinz, D.B., and the A.S. 
 Wanetinge, point to an original form Wanetinga, 
 gen. pi. The sense is ' home of the Wanetings '. 
 The Wanetings (A.S. Wanetingas) are a family 
 that cannot be traced further back. The chief's 
 name may have been Wanet or Waneta ; but we 
 have nothing to help us here. 
 
 Wasing. Between the Emborne and the county 
 boundary. Spelt Wausijnge,F.A.(l3l6); Wawesenge, 
 T.N. We usually find that au represents an older 
 al; indeed, D.B. has the form Wahinge, p. 15. 
 The D.B. suffix -inge answei's to A.S. -inga ; and
 
 THE SUFFIXES -LAND, -LEY 71 
 
 the D.B. form Walsinge obviously represents the 
 A.S. gen. pi. Waelsinga, which occurs in Waelsinga- 
 ham (home of the Waelsings), the modern Walsing- 
 ham. Hence Wasing was a settlement ' of the 
 Waelsings ', or ' sons of Waels '. The name is very 
 old ; for Waels is mentioned in 1. 897 of the old 
 poem of Beowulf; and his son Sigemund is called 
 Waelsing (son of Waels) in the same, 1. 877. The 
 A.S. Waelsing is equivalent to the Icelandic Vol- 
 sungr. 
 
 Land. 
 
 There is but one Berks, name with this suffix, 
 viz. Buckland. 
 
 Buckland. To the NE. of Faringdon. The 
 same as Buckland in Herts. Spelt Bocland, H.R. ; 
 Ipm. D.B. has Bocheland (with ck for k), p. 6. 
 The A.S. form is Boc-land ; Birch, C.S. hi. 205. 
 Lit. ' book-land '; a name given to land granted 
 by a hoc or written charter to a private owner. 
 See Bookland in N.E.D. 
 
 Ley. 
 
 The sense is somewhat vague; see N.E.D. We 
 may usually take it to represent the A.S. leak, 
 nom., or its dat. case Icage, ' a tract of cultivated 
 land ' ; modern E. lea. It occurs in Bagley, 
 Bessilsleigh, Chieveley, Early, Egley, Fawley, Hur- 
 ley, Ilsley, Oakley Green, Purley, Radley, Streat- 
 ley, Whistley. 
 
 Bagley Wood. Not far to the S. of Oxford. 
 Spelt Bagelc, H.R. The A.S. form is Bacgan leah ;
 
 72 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Birch, C.S. iii. 96 (last line). The sense is ' Bacga's 
 lea '. Bacga is a known personal name. 
 
 Bessilsleigh, or Besils Legh (Lysons). Near 
 Appleton. Not a very old name. It simply 
 means ' Besils' leigh (or lea) '. It is called Legh 
 in V.E. (temp. Henry VIII); and D.B. has 
 Leie, p. 6. It is said that the Besils family came 
 into possession of this manor in 1350 ; and held it 
 till the death of William Besils in 1516. Mathias 
 de Besyles had land in Buckland, Berks., as early 
 as 1295-6 ; Iprn., p. 127. This name is Norman. 
 
 Chieveley. To the N. of Newbury. Formerly 
 spelt Chivele, Ipm. ; F.A. (1316); T.N. ; T.E. ; 
 Chiveley, H.R. Latinised as Chiveleia ; R.B. Later 
 Cheveley, V.E. The A.S. form is Cifan-lea, Birch, 
 C.S. iii. 51, 274. (It has no connexion with either 
 Cofen-lea or Cufan-lea, as suggested by Kemble ; 
 and is also quite distinct from Cheveley, Cambs.) 
 The sense is ' Cifa's lea '. Cifa is a personal name 
 not otherwise known. The i was originally short, 
 but has been lengthened, as in E. cleave from A.S. 
 clifian. It is possible that Cifa may be the same 
 name as Ceofa, a name given by Searle ; see 
 Sievers, A.S. Grammar, § 107. 
 
 Early. Near Reading. Spelt Erie, Ipm. ; F.A. 
 (1316) ; Erlee, F.A. (1816) ; Erley, T.N. ; Arle, F.A. 
 (1428); Erlegh, Cl.R. ; Ipm. R.B. has the forms 
 Erleye, Erlega. D.B. has Erlei ; p. 5. The form Arle 
 shows that Early may well be the same name as 
 Arley ; and there are several places so called. Of 
 these one at least, viz. Upper Arley in Stafford-
 
 THE SUFFIX -LEY 73 
 
 shire, is known to have been formerly named 
 Arnley, A.S. Earnleah ; see Duignan's Staffs. 
 Place-names. A variant of Arnley is Eamley ; and 
 Earnley (Sussex) is written Earneleagh in Birch, 
 C.S. i. 331. Here Earne- is for Earnan, gen. of 
 Earna ; cf. Earna-lea in Kemble, CD. vi. 168 ; so 
 that the sense is ' Earna' s lea ' ; Earna being a 
 pet-name for names beginning with Earn-, such 
 as Earnbeald, Earnbeorht, &c. All founded on 
 A.S. earn, which means ' an eagle '. This solution 
 is, of course, conjectural. N.B. Earna leah, as it 
 stands, might mean f field of eagles '. 
 
 Egley. This is the name of an old hundred which 
 was united with that of Kintbury ; and the 
 combined hundred is frequently called by the 
 rather ludicrous name of Kintbury-Eagle, by con- 
 fusing an English name with the Anglo-French 
 cglc, whence modern E. eagle. We find hundred dc 
 Kenetbury et Eggle, F.A. (131 6); Eggele hundred, 
 H.R. ; Egle, H.R. The A.S. form of the prefix is 
 probably Ecgan, as found in Ecgan-croft ; Kemble, 
 Cod. Dipl. no. 621 ; badly spelt Egcean in Egcean- 
 laea (i.e. Egley) in the same, no. 714 (vol. iii. p. 
 344). Thesense is 'Ecga'slea'. Some have confused 
 it with Iglea, mentioned in the A.S. Chronicle, 
 though the prefixes are quite different, as pointed 
 out by Mr. W. H. Stevenson in his edition of 
 Asser's Life of Alfred, p. 272. Mr. Stevenson 
 further shows that Egley hundred appears as 
 Egeslcah in the Pipe Rolls, 17 Henry II, p. 90, 
 and as Eggesleah, in the same, 18 Henry II, p. 15 ; 
 which require for their origin the A.S. form 
 
 1257 k
 
 74 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 *Ecges-leah, meaning the ' lea of Ecg '. But the 
 correctness of these forms seems to me to be 
 doubtful, as we should expect Ecges-leah to give 
 a form Edgeley rather than Egley, whereas the g 
 remains hard, in the form Eagle, even now. 
 However, the name meant either ' lea of Ecga ' 
 or ' lea of Ecg '. It is only a question as to the 
 weak form in -a or the strong form without it. 
 
 Fawley. Not far from Lambourn. Spelt 
 Falelea, R.T. ; Faleley, R.C. ; Fallele, F.A. (131 6) ; 
 Fa/elee, Ab. ; Faleleg , Cl.R. ; Falleygh, Ipm. ; 
 Falelegh, T.N. [It somewhat resembles the A.S. 
 Falod-leah, the name of an uncertain place men- 
 tioned in a Hants, charter; Birch, i. 515. Fale(5- 
 lea is a mistaken spelling of this, with a needlessly 
 crossed d, in the same, iii. 415. This prefix is the 
 A.S. falod, the old form of the word now spelt fold, 
 in the sense of f sheep-fold'.] But Falod-leah, 
 being near the river Meon, cannot be Fawley in 
 Hants. I prefer to think that our prefix Fale- 
 answers rather to the E. Friesic falge, sb., 'fallow 
 land ' ; and that the sense of Fawley is simply 
 ' fallow-lea '. 
 
 Hurley. On the Thames, below Henley. 
 Spelt Hurle, P.R. ; Ipm.; F.A. (1316); Hurley, 
 V.E. D.B. has Herlei in Beners [Baynhurst] hun- 
 dred, p. 13. These forms give no sense. According 
 to the Index to the Charters in the British Museum, 
 there is a Hurley in Warwickshire which appears 
 in a charter as Hurnlega. If in this case likewise 
 we may look upon Hur- as short for Hum-, we 
 may explain the name from the A.S. hyme (hyrn- in
 
 THE SUFFIX -LEY 75 
 
 composition), ' a corner, a nook ' ; so that the 
 sense may be l lea in a nook '. Cf. Guyhirn, 
 Cambs. But more evidence is desired. We find 
 Hurran-cumb in the Crawford Charters, p. 58, 
 where Hurran is the genitive of Hurra. But the 
 D.B. form Herlei favours the A.S. hyrne. 
 
 Ilsley. There is a West Ilsley and an East or 
 Market Ilsley. The name has lost both initial H 
 and a d. Spelt Ildesley, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). 
 H ildesley, Hildesleye, Ipm. ; Est Hildesley, H.R. 
 D.B. has Hildeslei, p. 5. It also gives Hilleslave or 
 Hilleslav as the name of a hundred, answering to 
 an A.S. form Hildes hljew, i.e. ' Hild's low' or 
 burial mound ; which is actually mentioned in the 
 boundaries of Compton Beauchamp ; in Birch, 
 C.S. hi. 70. The A.S. form of the place-name would 
 be Hildes leah ; cf. Hildes-lege, dat., in Birch, 
 C.S. hi. 660. Hildes-forda, dat., occurs in the 
 same line. The name Hild is both masculine and 
 feminine ; see Searle. The sb. hild, ' battle/ is 
 feminine only ; so that Hild is here used merely 
 as a masculine personal name, without any refer- 
 ence to Hild, the goddess of battle, as Mr. J. 
 Stevenson wrongly suggests in his edition of the 
 Chronicle of Abingdon. When hild is feminine, 
 the genitive is hilde. 
 
 Oakley Green. Near Bray (Kelly). Lit. ( oak 
 lea '. The A.S. form is ac-leah. 
 
 Purley. On the Thames, above Reading. Spelt 
 Purley,Purlegh,Ipm.\ Pu de, R.B ; T.N. ; P.R. 
 D.B. has Porlei, p. 14. The prefix is the same as
 
 76 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 in Pur-ton (Wilts.) ; spelt Pyn/ton, Index, answer- 
 ing to the A.S. ping-tun, spelt Piritun in a late 
 charter, in Kemble, Cod. Dipl. iv. 166. From A.S. 
 pirige, a pear-tree ; from peru, a pear, which is 
 adapted from Lat. pirum, a pear. The sense is 
 'pear-tree lea'. There is another Purley in 
 Surrey. 
 
 Radley. To the NE. of Abingdon. Spelt 
 Radeley, T.N. ; Raydeley, V.E. The A.S. form is 
 spelt Radeleage, in the dative ; Birch, C.S. iii. 85 ; 
 with reference to a place in Wiltshire. It is 
 difficult to interpret the prefix. It seems to be 
 the same as in Radenweg, Birch, C.S. ii. 205, 1. 6, 
 and to represent Radan, gen. of Rada, variant of 
 Rfeda, a pet-name for the numerous names 
 beginning with Raid-. We find rod for reed, 
 ' advice,' in Thorpe, Ancient Laws, vol. i. p. 38, 
 1. 21. If this be right, the sense is ' Rada's lea'. 
 It would seem that the prefix Rad- sometimes 
 answers to A.S. read, 'red'; but it can hardly 
 do so here. 
 
 Streatley. On the Thames. There are several 
 Streatleys, and the sense is invariable, viz. f street 
 lea'. The A.S. form is Strait-leah, also written 
 Stretlea, as in Birch, C.S. i. 108, with reference to 
 this Streatley in Berks. The name Street com- 
 monly refers to a Roman road. 
 
 Whistley. In Hurst ; to the E. of Reading. 
 The name is ill preserved ; it should rather be 
 Wishley. Spelt Wisselay, P.R. ; probably Wishe- 
 legh, Ipm., also refers to Whistley. Latinised as
 
 THE SUFFIXES -LEY, -LOW 77 
 
 Wisseleia, Wisckeleia in the Chronicle of Abingdon, 
 ii. 196, 306. The A.S. form is Wiscelea, in a 
 Hui'st charter; Birch, C.S. hi. 511, 1. 1. Cf. 
 Wise-lea, id. ii. 298, 1. 7. The prefix Wisce 
 is the exact equivalent of the E. Fries, wiske, 
 a small meadow, diminutive of the word which 
 appears in German as wiese, a meadow, Old High 
 German wisa. Related by gradation to A.S. wase, 
 ooze, mud, which is now spelt ooze ; so that tviscc 
 was more especially used with reference to moist 
 or low-lying ground. The sense is c meadow-lea ' 
 Cf. Wishford in Wilts. 
 
 Low. 
 
 Low is from the A.S. Maw, hlcerv, a mound, 
 especially a bai*row or burial-mound ; and is com- 
 mon as a suffix. Two examples occur, viz. Chal- 
 low and Cuckhamslow. 
 
 Challow. West and East Challow lie to the W. 
 of Wantage. Spelt Westchallow, V.E. Earlier, 
 Estchaulo, F.A. (131 6) ; Chaulawe, T.N. ; Chawelaw, 
 R.C. ; Westchaularve, T.E. The A.S. form appears 
 in the dat. Ceawan-hlgewe in the boundaries of 
 Dench worth, Birch, C.S. ii. 601. The sense is 
 obviously f Ceawa's burial-mound '. 
 
 Cuckhamslow. The name of a hill near Want- 
 age ; also known as Scutchamfly barrow ; see 
 Earle, Land Charters, p. 486, col. 2, 1. 12. Called 
 Quichehneslewe by Robert of Gloucester. There is 
 no difficulty ; the A.S. form appears as Cwicelmes- 
 hltewe, in the dative case ; in Kemble, Cod. Dipl. 
 iii. 292 ; no. 693. Cwicelmes is an error for Cwic-
 
 78 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 helmes ; and the sense is < Cwichelm' s burial- 
 mound '. It is alluded to in the A.S. Chronicle, 
 an. 1006. One Cwichelm was king of the West 
 Saxons, and died a. d. 636. But as he was bap- 
 tized shortly before his death, Mr. Stevenson re- 
 marks (Asser's Life of Alfred, p. 236) that 'it is 
 unlikely that he was buried in heathen fashion 
 under a barrow. It is more probably the pagan 
 king Cwichelm of Wessex, whose death is entered 
 in the Chronicle under the year 593, who is 
 meant.' 
 
 Marsh. 
 
 A common word. The only example of it as a 
 suffix is in Tidmarsh. 
 
 Tidmarsh. On the Pang, above Pangbourn. 
 Spelt Tydemershe, F.A. (1428) ; Tudemershe, 
 Ipm. ; Tedmarsh, V.E. ; Thedmarsh, Ab. ; Thed- 
 mersshe, F.A. (131 6). Here Th is a Norman substi- 
 tution for the English T. The vowels i, u, e, y, can 
 only result from an A.S. short y, and the middle e 
 in Tud-e-merske suggests the A.S. genitive suffix 
 -an. Hence the prefix is Tyddan, gen. of Tydda ; 
 and the sense is ' Tydda' s marsh '. 
 
 Mere (l). 
 
 Mere, from the A.S. mere (rarely moere), a mere, 
 lake, pool, is familiar to all who know the English 
 Lakes. It occurs in Catmore (formerly Catmere), 
 Peasemore (formerly Peasemere), and Ripples- 
 mere. 
 
 Catmore. Near Farnborough. Spelt Calmer, 
 V.E. (temp. Henry VIII); and Catmere in Ly-
 
 THE SUFFIX -MERE 79 
 
 sons, Hist, of Berks. Also Catmere in D.B., p. 9 ', 
 Catmere, T.N. The sense is simply 'cat mere'. 
 (The wild guess, in Taylor, that it represents a 
 Welsh coed mawr, 'great wood,' is valueless.) 
 Catmore means ' cat moor ' ; and, when the mere 
 dried up or was drained away, it was natural to 
 substitute 'moor'. The A.S. form is also Cat- 
 mere, as in Birch, C.S. ii. 371, 1. 1-i ; and only 
 three lines below there is a reference to the Cat- 
 maeringa gemajre, i. e. ' boundary of the Catmer- 
 ings or dwellers in Catmere '. We also find Cat- 
 meres gemjere, in the same, iii. 52 ; which avoids 
 confusion between mere and gemcere. The same 
 charters mention a place called Catbeorh, ' cat- 
 barrow,' in the same neighbourhood. 
 
 Peasemore. Between Leckhampstead and 
 Beedon. Formerly Peasemere. Spelt Pesemere, 
 T.E. ; Cl.R. ; T.N. ; R.C. Peysmer, V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII) ; Pesemere, Ipm., p. 167. In the 
 Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 31, there is mention 
 of Ecclesia de Pesimara (or Pesimaro). D.B. has 
 Peine in Gamencsfelle [Ganfield] hundred, p. 8 ; but 
 this must refer to Pusey. We also find a Pease- 
 marsh in Sussex, and a Peasenhall in Suffolk, 
 which appear in Ipm. as Pesemersh and Pesenhale 
 (or Pesehale). It does not seem possible to see 
 for this prefix any other origin than the A.S. 
 pisa, a pea, pi. pisan, Middle English pese, pi. 
 pesen, later pease, now absurdly cut down to pea. 
 The sense must refer to a piece of land where 
 peas were cultivated, just as we find in the Index 
 to Kemble's Charters such forms as Bean-broc,
 
 80 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Bean-leah, Bean-setan, Bean-stede, all apparently 
 from the A.S. bean, a bean. The sense would be 
 'mere near a field for peas'. The form Pesimaro 
 is due to an attempt at representing a syllabic 
 final -e in a Latin spelling, and is of no value. 
 
 Ripplesmere. This is the name of a hundred 
 which contains Windsor. It appears as a hundred- 
 name from the first. We find hundred de Ripples- 
 mere, F.A. (1316); and D.B. has Riplesmcrc or 
 Riplesmer hundred twice, pp. 7, 12. The nom. 
 case of Ripples appears as Rippell in Birch, C.S. i. 
 84, and as Ryppel in the same, iii. 486 ; with re- 
 ference to Ripple in Worcestershire. There is 
 another Ripple in Kent, near Deal. The standard 
 form is Rippel, and it must have been a personal 
 name. The sense is l Rippel' s mere '. 
 
 Mere (2). 
 
 There is a less common mere, meaning ' a boun- 
 dary'. Lord Bacon has meere-stone, a boundary- 
 stone, in his Essay 56 (Of Judicature). It only 
 occurs in Horme \ The A.S. form is ge?nd}re, or 
 (rarely) maere. 
 
 Hormer. This is the name of the most north- 
 ern hundred, containing Hinksey and Cumnor. 
 Spelt Hornemere hundred, Ipm. ; H.R. D.B. has 
 Hornimere hundred, p. 6. In the Chronicle of 
 Abingdon it is further extended to Hornigmere, ii. 
 278 ; but the full form is Horninga mgere, as in 
 Birch, C.S. iii. 520. This name occurs as one of 
 the boundaries of some land at Witney, Oxon.,
 
 THE SUFFIX -OR oh -ORE 81 
 
 which extended over thirty hides ; and the list of 
 boundaries is closed by a reference to Hinksey, 
 which is in Hornier hundred. The sense is 
 ' boundary of the Hornings or sons of Horn'. 
 Horninga is the gen. of the pi. form Horningas. 
 Horn is a famous name, as there is a Romance of 
 Kim; Horn. 
 
 The Suffix -or or -ore. 
 The A.S. ora, a margin, bank, shore, is cognate 
 with the Latin ora, which happens to be identical 
 with it in form. Nevertheless, it is a native Teu- 
 tonic word, and occurs as a suffix in place-names ; 
 viz. in Bagnor, Cumnor, and Windsor. It also 
 appears alone, in the place-name Oare ; which I 
 shall consider first. 
 
 0\re. Near Chieveley, and considered as in it 
 (Kelly). Spelt Ore, T.N. ; F.A. (131 6). The A.S. 
 form is Ora, dat. Oran ; in Birch, C.S. iii. 509. It 
 simply means f bank, edge, margin '. 
 
 Bagnor. Near the Lambourn, above Donning- 
 ton. Spelt Bagenore, T.N. ; F.A. (1316). D.B. 
 has Bagenore ; p. 15. From an A.S. type Bacgan- 
 ora, i.e. ' Bacga's bank or edge'. The gen. case 
 Bacgan occurs in Bacgan-leah (i.e. Bagley) in 
 Birch, C.S. iii. 96. The nom. Bacga occurs in the 
 Liber Vitae of Durham. See Bagley Wood, p. 71. 
 
 Cumnor. Not far from Oxford. Spelt Comenore, 
 P.R. ; H.R. ; Cumenore, R.C. ; Comenor, T.N. 
 D.B. has Comenore, p. 6. The A.S. type appears 
 as Cumenoran in Birch, C.S. i. 505, last line ; but 
 the copy is late. On p. 368, Charter 680 gives an 
 
 1257 ' L
 
 82 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 earlier spelling Cumanora ; with a for e. And 
 again, Cumenoran occurs in the same, iii. 67. 
 But we find a still fuller form in the same, ii. 
 Appendix, p. vii ; and in iii. 68 ; viz. Colmanora 
 (Colmonora). As this occurs twice, it must be 
 taken to be significant. The variant Colmon (for 
 Colman) is only admissible if we take Colman to 
 be a complete name, and exclude the supposition 
 that -on is the termination of a genitive singular. 
 But this leaves no sign of the genitive at all. We 
 must therefore assume that the full form must 
 have been *Colmannesora ; and that the -es has 
 dropped out owing to the rather cumbrous form of 
 the word ; a phenomenon of which there is really 
 quite a large number of examples. And when we 
 notice that Colman is a name that occurs at least 
 Jive times, whilst Colma is not known, it will be 
 seen that the most probable sense is ' Colman's 
 bank, or edge '. Taylor is mistaken in taking 
 Cumenora to be the oldest form. 
 
 Windsor. Formerly spelt Windesore, H.R. ; 
 JVhulesoi'es, RB. D.B. also has Windesores ; 
 p. 2. Fuller forms are Windelsore, Robert of 
 Gloucester; Ipm. ; Windlesor , T.N. ; Wyndlesora, 
 T.E. ; Wyndeleshore, R.B. ; Windlesores, Pipe Rolls. 
 In the A.S. Chronicle it is Windlesoran, in the 
 dative ; an. 1 096. An earlier form of the prefix 
 is Wendles ; as in Wendles-ore, Kemble, Cod. Dipl. 
 iv. 165. And a still earlier one is Wamdles, which 
 occurs in another compound, viz. Waendles-dun, 
 in Birch, C.S. iii. 518, 1. 3. Waendles or Wendles 
 is the gen. case of Waendel or Wendel. Hence
 
 THE SUFFIX -PEN 83 
 
 the sense is l VYaendel's bank ' or ' Wsendel's shore ' . 
 It is highly probable that Wsendel is the same 
 word as Vandal, which is merely a Latin spelling 
 of a Teutonic word ; though Waendel, in the 
 present case, is merely a man's name. When we 
 use the word ' vandalism' reproachfully, we should 
 remember that it obtained its sinister sense from 
 the Romans, who were enemies of the Goths and 
 Vandals and of the Teutonic races generally, and 
 regarded them as ' barbarians'. The English were 
 on the other side ; and there may be Vandals 
 amongst us still. There is a Wandlebury, i.e. 
 ' Vandal fort ', within three miles of Cambridge. 
 The original sense of Waendel (Vandal) seems to 
 have been simply ' wanderer ' ; from the same 
 source as the A.S. wandrian, to wander. Cf. also 
 Wendles-dun, Waendles-dun ; Birch, C.S. hi. 517, 
 518; Wendles-clif, id. i. 341; Waendles-cumb, 
 Kemble, CD. vi. 120. 
 
 -PEN. 
 
 Pen is not common as a suffix. When it occurs, 
 it represents the A.S. perm, a pen for cattle or a 
 sheepfold. There is but one example in Berks., 
 viz. Inkpen. 
 
 Inkpen. To the S. of Kintbury. This curious 
 name looks as if it had an obvious reference to 
 writing materials ; but the resemblance is acci- 
 dental. The k was once ag ; and the pen referred 
 to is a cattle-pen. Formerly spelt Inkepennc, T.E.; 
 F.A. (1316); V.E. ; Ynkepenne, Ipm., p. 105. 
 Earlier Ingpenne, Ipm., p. 49 ; Ingepennc, T.N.
 
 84 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 D.B. has Hingepene, p. 11; with a meaningless H 
 prefixed. In an A.S. charter we find Ingepenne 
 in the dative ease ; Birch, C.S. ii. 367. Here 
 penne is the dat. of pom, a pen for cattle ; and 
 Inge is for Ingan, gen. of Inga, a known personal 
 name. The sense is e Inga's pen '. 
 
 -RIDGE. 
 
 Ridge is still in common use, though it seldom 
 has the exact old sense of ' back '. The A.S. form 
 is hiycg, dat. hycge ; common also in Northum- 
 brian in the form rigg. One example of a Berks, 
 name that contains this suffix is disguised by an 
 absurd spelling, probably thought to be phonetic ; 
 viz. Courage. A second example is of obvious 
 etymology, viz. Hawkridge. 
 
 Courage. Situate in Chieveley. It is a daring 
 respelling, after the Norman manner, of an English 
 name which might better be denoted by Curridge. 
 Spelt Curry ggc, F.A. (1428) ; Cuserugge, T.N. ; 
 Cusengge, Pipe Rolls ; Cusrigge, Ipm. ; Coserugge, 
 Ipm. ; F.A. (1316). D.B. has Coserige ; p. 14. It 
 is obvious that the rr is due to sr ; and arose from 
 assimilation. It is Latinised as Cuserugia in 1147 ; 
 Index. It appears in an A.S. (Chieveley) charter as 
 Cusan-ricge and Cusan-hricge, in the dative case ; 
 Birch, C.S. iii. 60. Cusan is the gen. of the per- 
 sonal name Cusa. The sense is ' Cusa's ridge '. 
 
 Hawkridge. In Bucklebury (Kelly). Although 
 this is a very small place, it is mentioned in a Saxon 
 charter, dated 956, in which its boundaries are
 
 THE SUFFIX -RITH 85 
 
 given, and it is stated to be near the river Pang. 
 See Birch, C.S. hi. 87, where it is spelt Heafoc- 
 hrycg. From the A.S. heaj'oc, hqfoc, a hawk, and 
 hrycg, a ridge. The name, in fact, explains itself 
 at once. 
 
 The Suffix -rith. 
 
 This is a most interesting word. The A.S. nth, 
 masc, and tithe, fern., both denoted a rill or 
 streamlet. In fact, our modern rill is merely a 
 French formation from a diminutive form rithel, 
 'little rill.' It is the same as the Low German 
 reide, North Friesic ride, rie, with the characteristic 
 Low German loss of d between two vowels. Hence, 
 even in England, the river-name Rye ; and the 
 famous Rie-vaulx Abbey owes its name to an 
 extraordinary combination of the A.S. nthe, a 
 stream, with the Norman vaulx, vaux (Latin vattis), 
 a valley. Shottery, in Warwickshire, appears as 
 Scotta-rlth in A.S. charters. The Berks, examples 
 are Childrey and Hendred. In these examples 
 the suffixes -rey, -red, are due to Anglo-French 
 substitutions. In the latter, the A.S. th is ex- 
 changed for d, in the former it has become part 
 of a diphthong, the consonant being suppressed. 
 Perhaps it is well to add that the A.S. rv-th is from 
 the same root as the Lat. ri-uus, a river. And 
 further, that the modern form Rye is perfectly 
 distinct from the Essex ree, a stream, which is 
 sometimes absurdly written Rhee. (This ree arose 
 from a misdi vision of the A.S. formula ait thcere ea, 
 ' at the stream,' whence the M.E. at ther ee, at the 
 ree. For ca (like Lat. aqua) is feminine.)
 
 86 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Childrey. To the W. of Wantage. The d is 
 excrescent, and of late introduction. Spelt Chelrey, 
 Celry, Celrea, T.N.; Chelrethe, Chelereye, Ipm. D.B. 
 has Celrea, p. 1 3 ; where C (before e) has the sound 
 of the modern E. ch. It appears in an A.S. charter 
 as Cilia rithe ; Birch, C.S. ii. 489. A still older 
 spelling is Cillan rithe, id. 601 ; in the dative case, 
 from the masc. nom. rith. Cillan is the gen. of 
 the feminine name Cille ; and the sense is ' Cille's 
 rill '. In this case, it is probable that we know 
 who Cille was, viz. the sister of Hean, first abbot 
 of Abingdon. See the Chronicle of Abingdon, i. 13. 
 
 Hendred. There is a West Hendred and an 
 East Hendred ; to the E. of Wantage. The d is 
 excrescent, and of late introduction. Spelt Hcn- 
 rcth, H.R. ; Esthenreth, Westhenreth, T.E. ; Henreth 
 (with <5 for th), Pipe Rolls. D.B. has Henret, p. 4 ; 
 with the Norman t for E. th. In A.S. charters it 
 appears as Henna-rith ; Birch, C.S. iii. 165, 326, 
 391. Henna is the gen. pi. of A.S. hen, keen, a hen. 
 The sense is ' hens' rill ', or ' rill of water-hens '. 
 Cf. Henbrook, Wore. ; also Emborne, ' duck 
 stream,' as at p. 15. 
 
 The Suffix -shet or -sheet. 
 
 Only in Bagshot. Bagshot is in Surrey ; but 
 as Bagshot Heath is in Berks., I include it. 
 
 Bagshot. Both syllables have suffered altera- 
 tion. A better form would have been Backsheet 
 or Bakshet. Spelt Baggeshott, Ipm., p. 334 ; also 
 Bagshat, Ipm. ; Bagshott, P.R, ; but Bagshet, Ab., 
 R.C. ; Bakeshet, Bakset, T.N. ; Baggeshete, Ipm.,
 
 THE SUFFIXES -STEAD, -HAMSTEAD 87 
 
 vol. 2. In the Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 7, 132, 
 there is mention of a wood near Winkfield called 
 Bac-sceat (temp. Will. I ; 1066-1087). The sense 
 is ' back-nook'; from A.S. bar, the back, and 
 sceat, an angle, nook, corner. Cf. Wop-shete 
 (Kemble). 
 
 -STEAD, -HAMSTEAD. 
 
 Stead is from the A.S. stede, f a stead, place, 
 station, site.' It only occurs, in Berks., in com- 
 position with ham-, giving hamstead or hampstead 
 (with an excrescent or unoriginal p). The A.S. 
 hamstede means f a homestead ' or ' farm ' ; from 
 ham, a home. The a is shortened before mst. 
 Examples are Ashampstead, Easthampstead, 
 Finchamstead, Hampstead Marshall, Hampstead 
 Norris, Leckhampstead, Sulhampstead. 
 
 Ashampstead. To the W. of Pangbourn. Spelt 
 Ashamsted, P.R. ; R.C. (1307); Ashehampstede, 
 R.C. (1316). The sense is f ash-homestead ' ; or 
 homestead near the ash-tree. 
 
 Easthampstead. To the S. of Bracknell. The 
 sense is l homestead lying to the east '. East- 
 hampstead Plain lies to the east of Finchamstead. 
 
 Finchamstead. Spelt Finchamstede, H.R.; Fynch- 
 amsted, F.A. (131 6). D.B. has Finchamestede ; p. 3. 
 The prefix is the A.S. fine (dat. fince), a finch. 
 The sense is ' homestead or farm frequented by 
 finches '. Cf. Finchfield, Wore. 
 
 Hampstead Marshall. To the E. of Kintbury. 
 Spelt II ampsted Marshall, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII);
 
 88 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Humpstcd, R.C. ; Hamstede, H.R. D.B. has Hame- 
 stede in Chcnetebeiie [Kintbury] hundred; p. 15. 
 In an A.S. charter relating to this place it is spelt 
 hamstede; Birch, C.S. hi. 302. The sense is 'home- 
 stead ' or ' farm ' ; and the name Marshall is 
 explained from the fact that it once belonged to 
 the Lord Marshal of England. We find Ha?npsted 
 Marshal in the possession of Roger le Bygod, Earl 
 of Norfolk and Marshal of England, and his wife 
 Alicia, in 1307 ; see Ipm., p. 21 6. 
 
 Hampstead Norris. Spelt Hampsted Norres, 
 V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). So called because held 
 by the family of Norreys. Norreys is a Norman 
 name, and signifies a Norman or Northman. 
 
 Leckhampstead, or Leckhamstead. Spelt Lec- 
 hampstede, R.B. ; Leckhampsted, F.A. (1316); Lec- 
 hamstede, H.R. ; Lekehamstede (1459), Index. D.B. 
 has Lecanestede ; p. 6 ; Lachenestede ; p. 8. An A.S. 
 charter in Birch, C.S. ii. 534, gives the boundaries 
 of Leachamstede. The prefix is the A.S. leac, a 
 leek ; but the same name was applicable to any 
 garden-herb. The sense is ' homestead or farm 
 with a kitchen garden'. N.B. There is another 
 Leckhampstead in Bucks. 
 
 Sulhampstead. Sulhampstead Bannister and 
 Sulhampstead Abbots lie to the S. of Theale. 
 Bannister (formerly Banistre) is a Norman name 
 of French origin. Spelt Sulhampsted Banaster 
 and Sulhampsted Abbatis, V.E. ; Silhamsted, T.E. ; 
 F.A. (1428); Sylhamsted, T.N. ; Silhampstede, Ab. ; 
 Syllampstede, F.A. (1402). The A.S. form does
 
 THE SUFFIXES -THORN, -TOWN, -TON 89 
 
 not appear ; but the vowels u, i, ij require A.S. y. 
 Hence the prefix probably represents the A.S. 
 sijlu, a miry place ; and the sense is ' a homestead 
 in a miry place '. 
 
 -THORN. 
 
 The A.S. thorn is often used with the sense of 
 thorn-bush ; cf. hawthorn. It is frequently men- 
 tioned in boundaries of places. 
 
 Crowthorn. To the N. of Sandhurst. In Ipm., 
 p. 294, there is a mention of Crowethorne, as being 
 in Somersets. There was also once a Crowthorn 
 in Hants, called Cra wan-thorn in a Hants charter; 
 Kemble, Cod. Dipl. iv. 103, 1. 4 (Bromdame in 1. 6 I 
 take to be Bramdean, and Heantun to be Hinton 
 Ampner). From era/van, combining form of crdive, 
 a crow. Lit. ' crow-thorn '. Cf. crawanleac=craw- 
 leac, crow-garlic. 
 
 -TOWN, -TON. 
 
 The suffix -ton is for A.S. tun, the unstressed 
 form of tun, ' town.' It practically meant ' a home- 
 stead ', or a farmhouse with all its outbuildings, &c. 
 It occurs frequently, viz. in Aldermaston, Apple- 
 ton, Ardington, Aston, Avington, Bourton, Bright- 
 walton, Brimpton, Charlton, Chilton, Clapton, 
 Compton, Donnington, Drayton, Easton, Eaton, 
 Garston, Hinton, Kennington, Kingstone, Milton, 
 Steventon, Sutton, Uffington, Ufton, Upton, 
 Weston, Woolhampton, Woolstone, Wootton. The 
 double suffix -hampton occurs in Bockhampton. 
 
 Aldermaston. Near the middle of the south- 
 ern boundary of the county. An n has been lost 
 1257 M "
 
 90 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 before the s, much disguising the name. Aldermas- 
 ton, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). But earlier it is 
 Aldermanston, F.A. (131 6) ; Aldremanneston, T.N. ; 
 Aldremanston, Ipm. D.B. has Heloremanestune (ab- 
 surdly), p. 5 ; but on the same page it has El- 
 dremanestune. The prefix is obvious, as it repre- 
 sents the A.S. ealdormannes, gen. case of ealdormann, 
 ' an alderman/ originally a name given to a noble- 
 man of the highest rank, or the chief officer of 
 a shire. Thus the literal sense is 'alderman's 
 town '. 
 
 Appleton. On the Thames ; above Oxford. 
 Formerly Appelton, Ipm. ; Apeltonc, R.B. D.B. 
 has Apletune, p. 12; Aplctone, p. 16. An A.S. 
 charter has .Eppeltun, in Birch, C.S. ii. 513. The 
 sense is 'apple town'; or 'farm with an apple- 
 orchard '. We are told in the same charter that 
 this place had formerly gone by a totally differ- 
 ent name, viz. iErmundes-lea, i.e. ' iErmund's lea'. 
 The name .ZErmund is an abbreviation of some 
 earlier form, probably of Earnmund or of Eard- 
 mund. 
 
 Ardington. Near Wantage. Formerly spelt 
 Ardington, Ipm. ; Ardinton, H.R. ; T.N. ; Ardynton, 
 F.A. (1316); Erdinton, Cl.R. Latinised as Ardin- 
 tona, Erdintona ; Index. D.B. has Ardintone, p. 13. 
 It is the same name as that of Erdington, near 
 Birmingham. I have explained (Place-names of 
 Cambs.,p. 6l) that Armingford (formerly Arning- 
 ford, Emingford) answers to the A.S. Earninga- 
 ford ; and in precisely the same way Ardin(g)ton 
 and Erdington answer to the A.S. form Eardinga-
 
 THE SUFFIX -TON 91 
 
 tun ; i. e. ' town of the Eardings, or sons of Earda'. 
 Here Earda is a pet-name for names beginning 
 with Eard-, such as Eardbeorht, Eardwulf, &c. 
 In his edition of Asser, Mr. Stevenson has a note 
 at p. 236, in which he suggests that (judging from 
 its situation) the * Eardulfes leah ' mentioned in 
 Kemble, Cod. Dipl. vi. 129, niay be another name 
 for Ardington. If so, we may certainly consider 
 Earda to signify Eardwulf. Indeed, Eardwulf is 
 much the commonest of the names beginning 
 with Eard- ; more than twenty examples of it 
 have been recorded. 
 
 Aston, or Aston Tiruold. To the E. of Blew- 
 berry. Lysons also gives the form Aston Thorold. 
 Aston is a very common name, as it simply means 
 ' east town '. This appears from the fact that 
 old spellings often appear as Eston. Spelt Estone, 
 T.E. ; Aston Tomld, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). 
 D.B. has Estone in Blilberie [Blewberry] hundred; 
 p. 9- The A.S. form appears as Eastun (for cast 
 tun) in a charter relating to this very place ; see 
 Birch, C.S. i. 390 ; hi. 393. Aston in Herts, and 
 Aston in Bucks, can both be proved to have the 
 like origin. Tirrold and Tyrrell are both forms 
 of the Norman Turold, which corresponds to the 
 M.E. Thorold, later form of the Norse Thoraldr, 
 cognate with A.S. Thurwold, Thurweald ; see 
 Bardsley and Searle. 
 
 Avington. On the Kennet ; near Kintbury. 
 There is another Avington in Hants. Spelt 
 Aventon, F.A. (1316); Avynton, Avienton, H.R. ; 
 Aventon, Avinton, T.N. ; but Avyngton, V.E. (temp.
 
 92 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Henry VIII). The name appears in an A.S. char- 
 ter as Afintune (dative) ; see Birch, C.S. hi. 292. The 
 nom. is Afintun. But I cannot explain it. As a 
 guess, I should suppose it to be short for Afinga- 
 tun, i.e. f town of the Afings ', or 'of the sons of 
 Afa '. Afa is a known name, of which Searle 
 gives two examples. But the frequent absence 
 of g in all the earlier examples suggests that Avin 
 or Aven may have resulted from the simple form 
 Afan, gen. of Afa. In this case, the sense would 
 be 'Afa's town'. It obviously makes but little 
 difference. The weakening of an to en, and again 
 of en to in, are both rather common. 
 
 Bourton. In Shrivenham. In Birch, C.S. i. 
 506, we find ' Scriuenham. Burgton ', thus men- 
 tioned together in a Grant to Abingdon Abbey. 
 This shows at once that Bourton corresponds to 
 the A.S. burg-tun or burh-tun, lit. ' borough town'. 
 
 Brightwalton. To the E. of Lambourn. Also 
 called Brightwaltham ; which is certainly corrupt. 
 Spelt Brightwalton, T.E. ; Bri/ghtwa/ton, Ipm. ; 
 Brictewalton, T.N. ; all shortened and unmeaning 
 forms. Spelt Bristwoklintona (1086) ; Index. D.B. 
 has Bristoldestone ; p. 8. Norman scribes often 
 write st for ght, A.S. hi. There is no doubt as to 
 the form, because it appears in an A.S. charter, 
 dated 939> as Beorhtwaldingtune, dative, in Birch, 
 C.S. ii. 462. It is obviously short for Beorhtweald- 
 inga-tun, i.e. 'town of the Beorhtwealdings or 
 sons of Beorhtweald '. Beorhtweald is a very 
 common name, of which there are more than 
 forty examples.
 
 THE SUFFIX -TON 93 
 
 Brimpton. Near the Emborne, and to the W. 
 of Aldermaston. Certainly the same name as 
 Brington, Hunts., as the old forms show. Spelt 
 Brympton, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII); Brinton, 
 Ipm. ; Biimton, Biimptun, T.N. ; H.R. ; Bernynton, 
 F. A. ; Bernintun, Pipe Rolls. D.B. has Brintonc in 
 Tacekam [Thatcham] hundred; p. 13. The A.S. 
 form Bryningtune (dative) appears in 9^4 ; Birch, 
 C.S. ii. 559- Short for Bryningatun, i.e. 'town (or 
 enclosure) of the Brynings '. Bryning is a patro- 
 nymic from the personal name Bryni ; so that 
 the Brynings were ' sons of Bryni '. Hence also 
 Briningham (Norfolk). 
 
 Charlton. There is a Charlton to the NE. of 
 Wantage. A more important use of Charlton is 
 as the name of a hundred (containing Shinfield), 
 in quite another part of the county. There are, 
 in fact, many Charltons. We find Cherledon hun- 
 dred, H.R. D.B. has Cerlctone, p. 3 ; with Cc for 
 E. Che. Cf. Cherletone, R.B. Charlton, in Wantage, 
 is actually mentioned in an A.S. charter, where it 
 is spelt Ceorlatun ; Birch, C.S. iii. 98. Ceorla is 
 the gen. pi. of ceorl, a churl, a husbandman. The 
 literal sense is 'churls' town'. 
 
 Chilton. To the W. of Blewberry. Spelt 
 Chilton, Ipm.; T.N. D.B. has Cilletone ; p. 7. 
 The A.S. form is Cilda-tun, in a charter dated 
 1015 ; see Kemble, Cod. Dipl. vi. 169. The A.S. 
 eilda is a form of the gen. pi. of cild, a child. The 
 sense is f children's town ' or farm. The allusion 
 may be to a farm carried on by young men whose 
 parents had died. Cf. Chilford, Cambs., which
 
 94 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 means ' children's ford ' ; where the allusion is, 
 no doubt, to the shallowness of the ford. 
 
 Clapton. To the N. of the Kennet, near 
 Avington and Hungerford. Also called Clopton, 
 described as being near Avington; F.A. (1316); 
 R.C. (D.B. has Clopcote in Eletesford hundred; p. 12. 
 This refers to Clopcot, which, according to Kelly, 
 belongs to Wallingford.) The prefix Clap- or 
 Clop- is common ; the A.S. form, in both cases, is 
 usually clop. I have discussed this clop in my 
 Place-names of Beds., s. v. Clapham. The sense is 
 not quite certain, but it seems to be the same word 
 as the Middle Danish Hop, a stub, or stump; 
 probably allied to clump. If so, it means ' a town 
 or enclosure of stubby ground '. 
 
 Compton Beauchamp. Not far from Dragon Hill. 
 (There is another Compton, near E. Ilsley, which 
 gave its name to Compton hundred.) Called 
 Compton Beauchamp, Ipm., p. 276, a.d. 1315-16; 
 where it is described as held by Guido de Bello 
 Campo, Earl of Warwick, and Alicia his wife ; 
 Guido de Bello Campo being a Latin rendering of 
 Guy Beauchamp. Spelt Compton, T.E. ; Cumpton, 
 Ipm., p. 105 ; Compton, Cumpton, H.R. ; Compton 
 Beauchemc, V.E. D.B. has Contonc; p. 4. The 
 dative Cumtune occurs in an A.S. charter dated 
 955 ; see Birch, C.S. hi. 69- The nom. is Cumtun. 
 The prefix is from A.S. cumb, a hollow valley, 
 a combe ; a word of Celtic origin, as seen by 
 comparison with the Welsh cwm, a combe, a hollow 
 in a hill-side. The sense is 'town or farm in 
 a combe'. Cf. Compton, Staffs.
 
 THE SUFFIX -TOX 95 
 
 Donnington. Near Shaw ; cf. Shaw-cum-Don- 
 nington (Kelly). Spelt Donington, R.C. ; Dunyng- 
 ton, F.A. (1316); Duninton, Cl.R., vol. i. We 
 find the A.S. expression ( on Dunninglande ' in 
 a Will; see Birch, C.S. iii. 601, last line. The 
 correct original form was, accordingly, Dunninga- 
 tun ; i. e. ( town of the Dunnings or sons of Dunn '. 
 
 Drayton. To the S. of Abingdon. Spelt 
 Drayton, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; Draitonc, R.B. 
 D.B. has Draitune ; p. 9- The A.S. form Draegtun 
 occurs in a charter dated 960 ; see Birch, C.S. iii. 
 279. From the A.S. droeg, discussed in my Place- 
 names of Cambs., where there is also a Drayton. 
 It is certainly derived from dragon, to draw, also, 
 to build a nest (N.E.D.). This explains the prov. 
 E. dray, 'a squirrel's nest', and shows that the 
 A.S. dra'g meant a place of shelter. It may have 
 meant 'a sheltered farm'. See Draycot, p. 27. 
 
 Easton. In Welford. Lit. ' east town '. Cf. 
 Aston above. Alluded to in an A.S. charter of 
 79b"; see Birch, C.S. i. 390. It is there spelt 
 Eastun. 
 
 Eaton Hastings. On the Thames, not far from 
 Faringdon. Spelt Eatone, T.E. ; Eton, H.R. ; 
 Eton Hastinges, Ipm., p. 146; P.R. The same 
 name as Eton. Spelt Eatun in an A.S. charter 
 relating to Abingdon ; see Birch, C.S. i. 490. 
 From the A.S. ea, a stream, a river ; with reference 
 (apparently) to the Thames, as in the case of 
 Eton, Bucks. The sense is ' river town ', or ' town 
 on the river'. The Hastings family was English, 
 named from Hastings in Sussex.
 
 96 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Garston, or East Garston. On the Lamboum. 
 Called Est garston, H.R. The A.S. form is Gaerstun ; 
 as in Birch, C.S. iii. 96, line 14. In the same, iii. 
 68, we find Gerstun and Grestun. The prefix 
 goers is a variant of grass, modern E. grass. The 
 sense is ' grass town ', or ' farm with abundance of 
 grass '. 
 
 Hinton Waldrist, or Waldridge. Near Long- 
 worth and the Thames. The old name seems to 
 have been Henton. In Ipm., p. 1 62, Henton and 
 Harewell (Harwell) are said to be in Berks. 
 D.B. has Hentone in Gamesfel [Ganfield] hundred 
 (p. 16), a correct reference to Hinton. Probably 
 not the same name as Hinton, or Cherry Hinton, 
 Cambs. It is further remarkable that Ipm. 
 (Inquisitiones post Mortem) has many references 
 for Henton, in nine different counties, including 
 Dorsets., Wilts., and Hants, which all have 
 Hintons. I think that the careful examination of 
 the Worth charter, printed in Birch, C.S. iii. 228, 
 as no. 1028, will pi'ove that Hinton Waldrist is 
 referred to in it. Mr. Birch says it relates to land 
 at Worth in Faringdon. What that means I do 
 not know ; but it is certain that Worth is the old 
 name of Longworth, and it is to Longworth that 
 the charter really refers. For it not only mentions, 
 in the boundaries, the Thames and the Ock, but 
 the eing-hcema gemcere or ' boundary of the people 
 of king's home ', i.e. of Kingstone, the cearninga 
 gemcere, or ' boundary of the people of Charney ', 
 and lastly the heantunninga gemcere, or l boundary 
 of the people of Heantun ', And this Heantun is,
 
 THE SUFFIX -TON 97 
 
 of course, Henton, or Hinton Waldrist ; just as 
 Heandun became Hendon. Thus the A.S. form 
 ■was Hean-tun ; where Kean is the usual dative of 
 heah, high. The sense is ' high town '. As to 
 Waldridge, it is not a Norman but an English 
 form ; from the A.S. Wealdric (like Aldridge from 
 Ealdric). This name actually occurs in the 
 Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 127 (a.d. 1100-35), 
 >\here we find : 'ego Waldricus regis cancellarius.' 
 Waldrist seems to have been formed from the gen. 
 Wealdrices, or Waldric's. Cf. Woolstone, p. 101. 
 
 Kennington. On the Thames, below Oxford. 
 Spelt Kenington, Ipm. ; P.R. ; Kenintone, R.B. ; 
 Keninton, T.N. The name appears in A.S. charters 
 as Cenintune (dative) in Birch, C.S. hi. 162 ; 
 Cenigtun, id. iii. 160. Also, in a late copy, as 
 Chenitun, id. i. 505 ; Chenigtun, 506, in the foot- 
 note ; here the spelling Che is due to a Norman 
 scribe, who wrote Che for A.S. Ce (as often). The 
 A.S. spellings are therefore Cenintun and Cenigton, 
 which are not reconcilable unless we suppose 
 them to represent the form Ceningtun. I think, 
 therefore, that the original form was Ceninga tun, 
 in accordance with the present name. The A.S. 
 cene means ' bold, valiant, keen ' ; whence Keen as 
 a surname. It is further noticeable that, although 
 the A.S. ce becomes che when the e is shoi't, the 
 A.S. ce becomes kee when it is long. The sense 
 is ' town of the Keenings or sons of Keen '. In 
 later times the ee was shortened. The same is 
 true of Kensworth (Herts.), which means ' Keen's 
 worth or farm '. See my Place-names of Herts. 
 
 1257 N
 
 98 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Kingstone Bagpuize. To the W. of Marcham. 
 Spelt Kingeston, H.R. D.B. has Chingestune in 
 Merceham [Marcham] hundred, p. 10 ; with Chi for 
 Ki (as usual). The boundaries of this place are 
 given in an A.S. charter ; see Birch, C.S. iii. 546. 
 It is there spelt Kingestun and Cingestun. Here 
 tinges is the gen. of ring, ci/ning, a king. The 
 sense is 'king's town'. 
 
 The name Bagpuize is of Norman origin, due 
 to the holder of the land. It is called Kingston 
 Bakepas, F.A. (131 6); Kingston Bagepuys, F.A. 
 (1428); and Kingston Bagpuz, V.E. In the 
 Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 30, 31, Adelelmus and 
 Radulphus de Bachepuiz are mentioned in con- 
 nexion with the church at this Kingston ; temp. 
 William II. In the same, ii. 121, the Norman 
 name is spelt Bakepuz. It is of local origin, from 
 a place in France. The Norman bake answers to 
 the Old French bache, explained by Godefroy as 
 meaning a gulley or watercourse ; and pus, puiz 
 are old forms of F. puits, Lat. puteus, a well. The 
 place-name had reference to ' a well with a water- 
 course '. 
 
 Kingston Lisle. Between Shrivenham and 
 Wantage. Noted as Kingeston Lisle, R.C. (15 Ed- 
 ward I). A note in Kelly says that it was named 
 from William de Insula (or De L'isle) in the time 
 of Henry II. The Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 145, 
 mentions Robertus de Insula as being loi - d of the 
 vill of Bradendene (1100-1135). 
 
 Milton. To the S. of Abingdon. As in the case 
 of Milton, Cambs., and in many other cases, Milton
 
 THE SUFFIX -TON 99 
 
 is a shortened form of Middleton. Spelt Milton, 
 V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). But Middelton, H.R. ; 
 T.E. D.B. has Middeltune in Sudtune [Sutton] 
 hundred ; p. 7. It is close to Sutton Courtney. 
 The sense is ' middle town ' ; perhaps because it 
 is between Steventon and the southern end of 
 Sutton Courtney. 
 
 Steventon. Near Milton (above). Spelt Stiven- 
 ton, H.R. ; T.E. ; Stivinton, R.T. ; Styvinton, R.C. ; 
 Styvington, F.A. (1316). Later Stevynton, V.E. ; so 
 that the former e was once i. D.B. has Stivetune ; 
 p. 4. The same name as Steventon or Stevington, 
 Beds. Stiven- (as in H.R.) probably represents an 
 A.S. form Sty fan, gen. of Styfa, in which the /was 
 pronounced as v. This name is not recorded, but 
 occurs in the diminutive form Styf'ec. From its 
 genitive Sty feces was formed the name of Stetch- 
 worth, Cambs. ; and perhaps Stechford in Worces- 
 tershire. The sense is 'Styfa's farm '. The change 
 from Stiventon to Steventon was doubtless owing 
 to the influence of the Norman name Stephen. 
 Perhaps Styfa is also implied in the patronymic 
 which appears in Stifinge-haema; Birch, C.S. iii. 392. 
 
 Sutton Courtney. To the S. of Abingdon. 
 Spelt Suttone, R.B. ; Sutton hundred, H.R. ; Suthtun, 
 Pipe Rolls. D.B. has Sudtone,p. 4 ; Sudtune, p. 7. 
 Spelt SuStun in a charter giving the boundaries 
 of Appleford, Berks. ; Birch, C.S. ii. 224. The 
 sense is ' south town '. There are more than 
 forty Suttons. Note that Sutton was once also 
 the name of a hundred. Courtney is a Norman 
 name, of French origin. Named, according to
 
 100 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Bardsley, from Courtenay in the Isle of France, 
 which was the name of an old French province 
 that also contained Paris. 
 
 Uffington. To the E. of Shrivenham. Spelt 
 Uffinton, H.R. ; T.N. ; Offingtone, Offentone, T.E. 
 D.B. has Offentone, p. 7; where the Norman initial 
 o had much the same sound as the A.S. u, and was 
 quite distinct from A.S. o. Spelt Uffentune, in 
 the dative case, in Birch, C.S. ii. 376, where its 
 boundaries are given. The writing of ng for n is 
 comparatively late, and is of no significance. The 
 original A.S. form would be UfFantun, where UfFan 
 is the gen. case of UfFa, a known name, and per- 
 fectly distinct from Offa, though they are often 
 ignorantly confused. U and o differ ; a cut is not 
 a cot. 
 
 Ufton Nervet. To the S. of Theale. Spelt 
 Uftone, F.A. (1316). Even without other forms to 
 guide us, it is obvious that the A.S. form must 
 have been UfFantun, i. e. ' Uffa's town ', precisely 
 as in the case of Uffington above. We might 
 suppose, from the forms, that Ufton is the older 
 place, and that its name has suffered greater change 
 by contraction. Nervet must be an old Norman 
 surname. The form nervet is the exact Norman 
 equivalent of the Old French nerve, which Gode- 
 froy explains as ' full of nerve, strong ' ; so that it 
 was originally a complimentary epithet. 
 
 Upton. Near Blewberry. Spelt Upton, H.R. ; 
 T.N.; Optone, T.E. D.B. has Optone in Blitberie 
 [Blewberry] hundred ; p. 1 5. The same name as
 
 THE SUFFIX -TON ; ;*4pj 
 
 Upton, Hunts. From the A.S. up, up ; used \i> 
 composition with the sense of f uppe?": The 
 sense is ' upper town '. Not far off there is an Aston 
 Upthorpe (i. e. upper village) near Aston Tirrold. 
 
 Weston. In Wei ford (Kelly). The sense is 
 ' west town '. There are about thirty Westons. 
 
 Woolhampton. Between Thatcham and Theale 
 (nearly). I discuss the suffix -Hampton at p. 102. 
 In this case the old form did not really possess 
 that suffix, as will appear. Spelt Wullaminton, 
 H.R. ; Wolamptone, F.A. (1428) ; Wllaumton, R.T. 
 But earlier, it is Wulavinton, T.N. ; Wullavintoii, 
 R.C. D.B. has OUavintone, p. 10 ; with for Wu. 
 It thus appears that the successive forms were 
 Wullavintoii, Wullaminton, Wollamton, Wolhamp- 
 ton, &c. The form Wullavintoii fairly agrees with 
 the modern names Woolavington, Somersets., and 
 Woollavington, Sussex. All have the same origin ; 
 and as the A.S. f between two vowels denotes v, 
 we find the same prefix as in the A.S. Wullafing- 
 land, which occurs in Kemble, Cod. Dipl. vi. 243. 
 Further, Wullaf is a late form of Wulflaf, due to 
 assimilation. Hence the A.S. form of Woolhamp- 
 ton must originally have been Wulflafinga-tun, i.e. 
 ' town (or farm) of the Wulfiafings or sons of 
 Wulflaf '. Wulflaf (later Wullaf) is a known name. 
 
 Woolstone. Not far from Shrivenham. An old 
 name and much contracted ; entirely unconnected 
 with wool and stone. (There are other places with 
 a similar name, but they may not be from the same 
 original.) Spelt Wlricheston, Wulurichcston, H.R.
 
 102 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Wlfrkhestone (error for Wlfrkhestone, by the very 
 frequent substitution of t for c), T.E. ; Wulf riches- 
 ion, Wulvricheston, T.N. ; Wolricheston, Ab. In 
 F.A. (13 16) we find that Wolfricheston is in Shri- 
 venham hundred. D.B. has Olvricestone ; p. 5. The 
 A.S. original is unmistakable. It must have been 
 Wulfrices tun, i.e. 'Wulfric's town or farm'. 
 Note that, in D.B., p. 14, the name recurs, but is 
 there miswritten Vlritone (omitting ces), and is 
 moreover incorrectly said to be in Thatcham 
 hundred, by confusion with Woolhampton. Wild 
 and silly fables have been founded upon this mis- 
 reading, which is a reason for recommending 
 caution. 
 
 Wootton. Between Appleton and Kennington. 
 Spelt Wotton, T.E. Alluded to in a charter ; see 
 Birch, C.S. i. 506, line 2, where it appears as 
 Uudetun, a late spelling of Wudetiin, or rather 
 of Wuduton. Literally, 'wood toAvn '; or 'farm near 
 a wood'. There are a dozen Woottons or Wootons. 
 
 -HAMP-TON. 
 
 The suffix -hampton (with excrescent p) is a com- 
 pound suffix, composed (in this instance) of the 
 A.S. ham, 'home,' and tun, 'town.' The sense is 
 much the same as that of ' homestead '. The only 
 example is Bockhampton. 
 
 Bockhampton. A tithing, one mile to the E. 
 of Lambourn (Kelly). Spelt Bokhampton, Ipm.; 
 Bochamton,T.N.; Bockhampton, P.R. ; Bochampton, 
 Ab. The sense of the prefix is doubtful. The 
 Middle English sometimes represents A.S. ;
 
 THE SLTFIXES -WARE, -WELL 103 
 
 perhaps the form bock represents the A.S. boc, a 
 beech-tree ; see boc-haga, hoc-holt in the Supple- 
 ment to the A.S. Diet. If this is right, the sense 
 is ' beech homestead '. Compare Buckland above, 
 and Bookham (Surrey), A.S. Bocham. (Doubtful.) 
 
 The Suffix -ware. 
 Clewer. Near Windsor. Spelt Cliware, Cle- 
 tvare, Ipm., vol. 2 ; Cleware, Ab. ; Clyware, F.A. 
 (1316) ; Cliwar, T.N. ; Cluer, V.E. But Clyfwere 
 (temp. Edw. I) ; Index. D.B. has Clivore in Riples- 
 mere hundred; p. 14. The prefix is evidently the 
 A.S. clij) lit. <a cliff', also an acclivity or slope. 
 In Birch, C.S. ii. 476, we find the expression on 
 clifwere, but the charter (which relates to Wilts.) 
 is full of late spellings and is not helpful. A better 
 form is given in a Kentish charter, in Birch, i. 318, 
 where we find f on eastan clifwara gemaere ' and 
 ' on suthan clifwara gemaere '. Here warn is the 
 gen. pi. of the pi. sb. ware, ' people ' ; as in Cant- 
 ware, men of Kent, people of Kent. Similarly, 
 the A.S. clif-ware would mean 'cliff-men ', applied 
 to a small tribe or company who had settled at 
 Clewer. It is obviously impossible to say how 
 they came to possess this epithet. 
 
 Well. 
 Well is used in the usual sense of 'spring of 
 water '. It occurs in Brightwell, Coxwell, Harwell, 
 Sotwell, and Sunningwell. 
 
 Brightwell. Near Wallingford. Spelt Brith- 
 tvell (with th for hi) ■ H.R. ; Bridewell, T.N. D.B.
 
 104 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 has Bristowelle, p. 5 ; with st for A.S. ht. There 
 is also a Brightwell in Oxfordshire, alluded to in 
 an A.S. charter in the phrase ' a?t Berhtanwellan ' ; 
 Birch, C.S. ii. 166. Again, in the same, ii. 596, we 
 read : ' incolae prolatum nomen latialiter declara- 
 tam font em indiderunt, nunc vero . . . Beorhtan- 
 wille.' This proves at once that the sense is 
 simply 'bright well'. It is remarkable that 
 Kemble, in his Codex Diplomaticus, vol. iii, p. xiii, 
 sees in this name an allusion to ' Berhte or Beorhte, 
 the goddess of wells '. It would seem, however, 
 that our ancestors were quite unconscious of any 
 such allusion, because the A.S. beorhtan is ex- 
 pressly explained to mean declaratam. I think it 
 means 'clear, translucent', as defined in the N.E.D. 
 
 Coxwell. Great and Little Coxwell are near 
 Faringdon. Spelt Cokestvell, T.N. ; Index ; Cofces- 
 welle, T.E. D.B. has Cocheswelle, p. 4 ; where che — 
 he. These represent an A.S. form Cocces-wielle, 
 lit ' Cock's well '. Cocc, c cock,' is here used as 
 a personal name ; or we should expect ' cock-well '. 
 
 Harwell. Near Didcot. Spelt Hareivell, H.R. 
 D.B. has Harwelle, p. 5 ; and Harowelle, p. 14. 
 The A.S. form is given as Haranwylle in Birch, 
 C.S. iii. 446. As haran is the gen. case of ham, a 
 hare, the sense is ' Hare's well '. The use of the 
 genitive suggests that Hara is here used as a per- 
 sonal name. Otherwise, the spelling would have 
 been Harawylle. 
 
 Sotwell. Near Wallingford. Spelt Sottetvell, 
 H.R. ; Sottetvell, Sotewell, T.N. D.B. has Sotwelle •
 
 THE SUFFIXES -WELL, -WORTH 105 
 
 p. 8. The A.S. form must have been Sotan wielle, 
 i.e. ' Sota's well '. Sota is known as a personal 
 name. The o is short, and Sota is merely the 
 weak fonn of the A.S. adj. sot, sott, ' foolish ' ; 
 whence the modern E. sot. The compound sot- 
 ceorl, ' foolish churl/ is not in the Dictionary ; but 
 it occurs in Birch, C.S. ii. 242, line 13. 
 
 Sunningwell. To the N. of Abingdon. Spelt 
 Sunningrvell, Ipm. ; Sonnyngewelle, T.E. ; Sunninge- 
 tvell, T.N. D.B. has Soningeunel ; p. 6. The right 
 A.S. form occurs as Sunningauuille (in a late copy) ; 
 Birch, i. 506 ; and Sunninga-wylle, id. iii. 108 
 (footnote 2). Elsewhere it is misspelt, without 
 the third n. The sense is ' well of the Sunnings '. 
 Cf. Sunninghill, and Sonning, pp. 63, 69. 
 
 -WORTH. 
 
 The suffix worth or wyrthe was applied to an 
 enclosed homestead or farm ; see Bosworth and 
 Toller's A.S. Diet., p. 1267. It is allied to the 
 A.S. weorth, 'worth, value' ; and may be taken in 
 the sense of ' property ' or ' holding '. Examples 
 occur in Aldworth, Bayworth, Chaddleworth, 
 Denchworth, Longworth, Padworth, Seacourt, and 
 Sugworth. 
 
 Aldworth. Between Compton and the Thames. 
 Spelt Aldeworth, F.A. (1316); T.N. ; T.E. ; R.C.; 
 Audeworth, Cl.R. I find no mention of it in 
 A.S. charters, but it answers to the expression to 
 ealdan wyrthe in Birch, C.S. ii. 358. The sense is 
 simply 'old worth', i.e. 'old farm'. 
 
 1257 o
 
 106 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Bayworth. In Sunningwell (Kelly). D.B. has 
 Baiorde ; p. 6. (In D.B. worth is usually expressed 
 by orde.) In the Abingdon Chronicle we find 
 Baigeuurtka, i. 36 ; and Bceieuurtha, p. 37. Also 
 Bcegenweorthe in the same, p. 218. The bounda- 
 ries of Ba} r \vorth are given in a charter dated 956. 
 It is spelt Baegen-weorthe (dative) in Birch, C.S. 
 hi. 107 ; better Baegan-wyrthe, id. hi. 96. Here 
 Baegan is the gen. of the personal name Baega or 
 Bajga. The sense is ' Bsega's worth or farm '. The 
 same A.S. prefix occurs in Baynhurst ; see p. 65. 
 
 Chaddleworth. Near Brightwaltham. Spelt 
 Chadelworthy R.C. ; Chadeletv'rth, T.E.; Chadelcs- 
 worth, H.R. ; Chadlesworth, Ipm. D.B. has Cedene- 
 ord in Eglei hundred, p. 8 ; with n for /. In an 
 A.S. charter, dated 960, it appears as Ceadelan- 
 wyrth ; in Birch, C.S. iii. 274. This seems to 
 decide that the forms with the genitive in -es are 
 unoriginal ; and that the sense is f Ceadela's worth 
 or farm '. The name Ceadela seems to be distinct 
 from Ceadwalla. 
 
 Denchworth. To the NNE. of Wantage. Spelt 
 Denchenmrth, Dencheswurth, T.N. ; Denechesworth, 
 F.A ; Denchesn'ith, T.E. ; Denhesivorde, R.B. ; 
 Dencheworth, V.E. (temp. Henry VIII). D.B. has 
 Detichestrorde ; p. 10. It appeal's in A.S. charters 
 as Dences-wyrthe, Birch, C.S. i. 490 ; Deniches- 
 uurde (a late spelling), also Deniceswurth (printed 
 Deinceswurth), id. 506 (and footnote) ; Deneces- 
 wurthe (dative), ii. 601 ; iii. 237. The sense is 
 ( Denec's worth ', or ( Denic's worth '. This per- 
 sonal name is not known elsewhere.
 
 THE SUFFIX -WORTH 107 
 
 Longworth. Eight miles from Abingdon, and 
 ten from Oxford. The old name was simply 
 Worth. The prefix Long- appears in the 14th 
 century ; I find Langtvorthe, F.A. ; Langworth in 
 1458; Index. Also Longworth, V.E. (temp. 
 Henry VIII). Spelt With, T.E. It appears in 
 A.S. charters as Weorthe, Birch, C.S. hi. 67 ; and 
 Wyrthe, p. 258. It merely means 'long worth or 
 farm '. 
 
 Padworth. To the SSW. of Theale. Spelt 
 Paddemirth, T.N. ; Padeworth, V.E. D.B. has 
 Peteorde (with t for d) ; p. 11. The A.S. form is 
 Peadan-wurth ; Birch, C.S. hi. 178. The sense is 
 1 Peada's worth or farm '. Peada as a personal 
 name is unknown elsewhere, except in another 
 place-name written Peadan-beorge in the dative 
 case; Birch, C.S. ii. 142, line 1. The modern 
 Padbury has not precisely the same prefix ; its 
 A.S. form was Padde-byrig ; Birch, C.S. ii. 377. 
 Here Padde represents Paddan, gen. of Padda, a 
 known name. 
 
 Seacourt. Within two miles of Oxford. This 
 is a most interesting example, on account of the 
 impossibility of guessing its origin. It has nothing 
 to do either with sea or court. At the same time, 
 the historical etymology is quite clear. Spelt 
 Sevekenmrth, T.N. ; Sevkeworthe, F.A. (1401-2); 
 Seovecwurde, Chronicle of Abingdon, ii. 311. D.B. 
 has Seuacoorde ; p. 6. It appears in an A.S. 
 charter (about a.d. 957) as Seofecan-wyrthe 
 (dative); Birch, C.S. iii. 201, line 1. The sense is 
 ' Seofeca's worth or farm '.
 
 108 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Sugworth. There is a Sugworth Farm in Sun- 
 ningwell, according to Bacon's map. It is inter- 
 esting as being mentioned in Domesday Book, 
 where it appears as Sogorde ; p. 6. Ipm. mentions 
 a place named Suggeden (Salop) in 1293-4, which 
 corresponds to the modern surname Sugden (in 
 the Clergy List). The A.S. place-name Sucgan- 
 graf occurs in Birch, C.S. iii. 96 ; see note 32. It 
 is therefore certain that the modern prefix Sug- 
 answers to the Middle English Sugge-, and to the 
 A.S. Sucgan, genitive of Sucga. The sense is 
 ' Sucga's worth or farm '. 
 
 Having now accounted for all the compound 
 names containing some well-known suffix, it re- 
 mains to discuss the names in which no such suf- 
 fix appears. It is remarkable how few they are. 
 The list contains only Beedon, Bray, Shaw, Ship- 
 pon, Speen, and Theale. 
 
 Beedon. To the S. of East Ilslev. To be divided 
 as Beed-on, or rather Beed-en. The ending in 
 -on is due to confusion with names ending in 
 -don, which are numerous. Spelt Bedene, F.A. 
 (1428) ; Budene, F.A. (1428) ; Budon, alias Bedon, 
 V.E. (temp. Henry VIII) ; Beden, Bede, T.N. Also 
 Budeneye, F.A. (131 6), where it is mentioned as 
 being near Oare, Peasemore, and Leckhampstead. 
 D.B. has Bedene ; p. 6. Spelt Bydene in an 
 A.S. charter relating to Beedon ; Birch, C.S. iii. 
 429 ; with an endorsement in which it is spelt 
 Bedene ; but both of these spellings seem to be 
 late. The right form appears to be By dan, as in
 
 BEEDON, BRAY 109 
 
 the compound Bydan-wyrth, id. iii. 45. We also 
 find, in the boundaries of Chieveley, the expres- 
 sion Byden-hjema gemseres, i.e. c of the boundary 
 of the people of Bydan-ham'; p. 52. The late name 
 Buden-eye (for A.S. Bydan-Ieg), and the names 
 Bydan-wyrth and Byden-ham (for Bydan-ham), all 
 prove that Bydan is really an old genitive singular 
 from a nominative Byda or Byda. The latter is 
 the right form, and is a known name. Indeed, 
 it occurs again in Biddenham, Beds., formerly 
 Bidenham, Bedenham, from A.S. Bydan ham, or 
 ' Byda's home '. Hence Beedon really represents 
 the A.S. gen. case Bydan, meaning ( Byda's ', just 
 as 'Smith's house' might be shortened to ' Smith's'. 
 The missing suffix is supplied in the old form Bu- 
 deneye (above) ; which was originally ' Bydan 
 leg ' or ' Byda's isle '. 
 
 The A.S. y was variously represented in Middle 
 English by 1, y, u, e ; so that all the later spellings 
 are accounted for. The modern ee is due to the 
 Mercian form Bedan, gen. of Beda. 
 
 Bray. On the Thames, above Windsor. Also 
 formerly (and now) the name of a hundred. Spelt 
 Braie, Ipm. ; Bray, Ipm., T.N. ; Bray, Broy, R.B. 
 Cf. Brayfield, Braybrook, Brayton. The name is 
 therefore a native one, not Norman. We find 
 also hundred de Bray, F.A. (131 6). D.B. has Brat ; 
 p. 3. Ipm. has such names as Bray-burne, -broke, 
 -legh, -lond, -thwayt, -toft, -ton ; also Brai-ton, 
 Brei-tofte. The fact that such names as Bray- 
 bourn, Bray-brook, &c, exhibit no genitive suffix 
 (such as would result from A.S. -es, -an) suggests
 
 110 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 that Bray is not due to a proper name, but repre- 
 sents some natural object. I am somewhat doubt- 
 ful as to the sense, but I would suggest that Bray 
 is directly derived from the Mercian breg, lit. an 
 eyebrow ; whence also prov. E. bree, the eyebrow ; 
 cf. A.S. brcew. For this word doubtless had also 
 the sense of ' hill-side ' ; precisely as in both the 
 Northumbrian and Wessex dialects. The North- 
 ern form (from the Norse bra) is now spelt brae, 
 and is a very familiar word in Scottish ; see brae 
 in the N.E.D. The Wessex bru, though it is not 
 really cognate with the words above, likewise had 
 the double sense of ' eyebrow ' and ' hill-side ' ; 
 see Brow in the N.E.D. and E.D.D. I suggest, 
 accordingly, that the original sense was f hill-side ' 
 or 'slope'. Cf. M.E. breu in Stratmann. I very 
 much doubt whether any of the words or forms 
 mentioned above are related to the Welsh bre, 
 Irish bri, a hill ; nor do I assign to them a Celtic 
 origin. See Urkeltischer Sprachschatz by Whitley 
 Stokes, p. 171. Bray, in Wicklow, has an English 
 name, which translates the older Celtic Bree 
 (Joyce). The Mercian forms breg, bregh are given 
 in Bosworth's Diet., s.v. breaw. An old notion 
 that Bray represents the Latin Bibracte (!) need 
 not be seriously considered. 
 
 Shaw ; or Shaw-cum-Donnington. On the N. 
 bank of the Lambourne. Spelt Shaghe, F.A. 
 (131 6); Schawe, T.E. D.B. has the strange Nor- 
 man spelling Essages ; p. 14. Here ss is for sh ; 
 and the vowel E is prefixed. The A.S. form is 
 Scaga, meaning ' thicket ' or ' wood '.
 
 SHIPPON, SPEEN 111 
 
 Shippon. One mile from Abingdon. Spelt 
 Slmpene, F.A. (131 6); Scippene, Chronicle of 
 Abingdon, ii. 285; Scipena, id. ii. 19 (a.d. 1087- 
 1100). The A.S. form is so/pen, a cow-house, a 
 cattle-shed ; still common as prov. E. shippen or 
 skuppen. 
 
 Speen, or Speenhamland. Near Newbury. 
 Spelt Spene cum Woodspene et Spenhamlonde, F.A. 
 (1316); Spate, H.R. ; T.E. ; Spenes, T.N., Cl.R. ; 
 Spenhamland, Ab. In a Grant by King Kenulf, 
 a.d. 821, we find: 'cum ilia silva integra quae 
 dicitur Spene Pohanlech et Trinlech ' ; Birch, C.S. 
 i. 506 ; Avhere another MS. has Spene wohanlaeh 
 et trindlaeh (footnote to the same). D.B. has 
 Spone (not Spene); p. 15. The A.S. form is, 
 accordingly, Spene, an adjectival form (like cene, 
 grene) derived from a sb. Spoil (whence the form 
 Spone in D.B.). The A.S. span (modern E. spoon) 
 meant originally a chip, a thin shaving, thin plank ; 
 another sense was, doubtless, a wooden shingle or 
 wooden tile for roofing or protecting the front of a 
 house. Cf. lce\. spon-thak, zthakch. of shingles, sparara, 
 sponn, a chip, shingle for thatching ; Swed. span, 
 a chip, pi. spanar, or collectively span, shingles, 
 thin boards to cover houses (Widegren) ; E. 
 Friesic spun, a chip, shingle, sponen, adj., made oi 
 shingles. I suppose that the place (and afterwards 
 the wood spoken of in the A.S. charter) took its 
 name from a shingled house or building, which was 
 also called Spen-ham, ' shingled home ' (whence 
 Speenham and Speenhamland). At any rate this 
 solution is both possible and probable. Cf. Spondon,
 
 112 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Derb. ; and A.S. Spon-waelle, Spon-ford ; Birch, 
 C.S. i. 496 ; iii. 288. 
 
 It is quite otherwise with the impossible theory, 
 to be found in any book that treats of the old 
 Roman roads, which identifies Speen with the old 
 Roman station called in Spinis, or Spinis, mentioned 
 in the Itinerary of Antoninus, sections xiii and 
 xiv. Whether the situation of Speen best fits the 
 descriptions or not, need not be here considered ; 
 for even if it can be granted that Speen occupied 
 the exact position of Spinis or Spinae, there is no 
 possible connexion between the names, as the 
 principal vowel-sounds are quite irreconcilable. 
 The Latin name, if borrowed, would have given 
 A.S. spin, ' thorn' ; but no such word is known in 
 A.S. It has been said, with singular simplicity, 
 that the Lat. spina was so pronounced that the 1 
 had the sound of the modern Eng. ee ; and there- 
 fore spina was Speen ! This egregious statement 
 quite overlooks the fact that the Latin and 
 Anglo-Saxon e were pronounced alike, so that the 
 A.S. Spene was sounded something like the 
 modern English Spainer (to coin a word). And, 
 in fact, the Latin splen has actually become E. 
 spleen ; but spina has become spine (through the 
 Old French espine). As to Speen, cf. prov. E. 
 spean, a slip of wood, a bar of a gate ; E.D.D. It 
 should be noted that, topographically, it would be 
 much better to locate the Latin Spinae at or near 
 Newbury ; and that the identification of it with 
 Speen is by no means satisfactory or helpful. 
 Camden, on this account, seems to suggest that 
 Spinae was fii'st of all at Newbury and afterwards
 
 SPEEN, or SPEENHAMLAND 113 
 
 at Speen ; but this assumes that a place has the 
 power of locomotion ! Such an assumption gives 
 up the case. 
 
 Theale. Near the Kennet, above Reading. 
 It was once (and still remains) the name of a 
 hundred. We rind hundred de la Thele, H.R. ; la 
 Thele, F.A. (131 6). But the word is native, not 
 Norman ; from the A.S. thel, ' a plank.' The A.S. 
 shoi-t open e became, regularly, ea in Tudor 
 English ; as in mete, meat, stelan, to steal, &c. No 
 doubt thel had the same sense as the com- 
 pound thelbrycg, f a plank bridge,' as in Birch, 
 C.S. hi. 682. It meant 'a, plank thrown over 
 a stream '. 
 
 The Rivers of Berkshire. 
 
 There is not much to be said of the rivers 
 of Berkshire. The Thames forms its Northern 
 boundary, and has a very old name, the origin of 
 which is wholly unknown. It certainly is not 
 English. The A.S. spelling is Taemese, or Temese ; 
 and there was another river of the same name 
 which gave a name to Tempsford in Beds. The 
 Normans wrote Th for the initial T, and we still 
 preserve this absurdity. 
 
 The Kennet is certainly of Celtic origin ; see 
 under Kintbury, p. 23. There is another Kennet 
 in Cambs., a Kent in Westmoi'land, and a Kent- 
 ford in Sussex. The sense is unknown. 
 
 The origin of the Loddon is unknown. There 
 is a place called Loddon in Norfolk ; but this may 
 be a different name. 
 
 The names of the Emborne, the Lambourn, and 
 
 1257 p
 
 114 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 the Pang or Pangbourn, are all English ; and 
 have already been explained (pp. 15, 16, 17). 
 
 The Ock is from the A.S. Eoccen, which is 
 frequently mentioned in the charters as the name 
 of the river ; a name of unknown origin. It easily 
 came to be pronounced like a modern English 
 form Yocken ; after which it lost the initial y- 
 sound and the suffix. The Normans disliked 
 initial y, and often dropped it. A well-known 
 example occurs in the A.S. Gippes-wic, which is 
 now Ipswich. In Birch, C.S. hi. 68, there is 
 a late copy of a charter dated 955, which contains 
 the spelling eoccen, altered fourteen lines below 
 to occen, and even to eccen, which can hardly be 
 right. 
 
 At p. 70 of the same, in the boundaries of 
 Compton Beauchamp, there is an allusion to 
 Welandes smidoan, or ' Weland's smithy '. This 
 is the famous Wayland Smith's Cave, concerning 
 which much has been written. The spelling with 
 ay is modern, the correct form being Weland, as 
 above.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abingdon, 30. 
 Aldermaston, 89. 
 Aldworth, 105. 
 Appleford, 44. 
 Appleton, 90. 
 Arborfield, 38. 
 Ardington, 90. 
 Ascot, 26. 
 Asharapstead, 87. 
 Ashbury, 19. 
 Ashdown, 31. 
 Aston Tirrold, 91. 
 Avington, 91. 
 
 Badbury, 20. 
 Bagley, 71. 
 Bagnor, 81. 
 Bagshot, 86. 
 Balking, 66. 
 Barkhara, 54. 
 Basilden, Basildon, 28. 
 Baynhurst, 65. 
 Bayworth, 106. 
 Beedon, 108. 
 Beenham, Benhara, 54. 
 -bergh, 13. 
 Berkshire, 9. 
 Bessilsleigh, 72. 
 Binfield, 38. 
 Binsey, 34. 
 Bishain, 55. 
 
 Blewberry, Blewbury, 20. 
 Boekhampton, 102. 
 -bourn, 15. 
 
 Bourton, 92. 
 Boxford, 44. 
 Bracknell, 53. 
 Bradfield, 38. 
 Bray, 109. 
 Brightwalton, 92. 
 Brightwell, 103. 
 Brirapton, 93. 
 -brook, 19. 
 Buckland, 71. 
 Bucklebury, 22. 
 Burghfield, 39. 
 -bury, 19. 
 Buscot, 26. 
 
 Catmore, 78. 
 
 Chaddleworth, 106. 
 
 Challow, 77. 
 
 Charlton, 93. 
 
 Charney, 34. 
 
 Chieveley, 72. 
 
 Childrey, 86. 
 
 Chilton, 93. 
 
 Cholsey, 35. 
 
 Clapton, 94. 
 
 Clewer, 103. 
 
 Coleshill, 62. 
 
 -combe, 24. 
 
 Compton Beauchamp, 94. 
 
 Cookham, 55. 
 
 -cot, -cote, 26. 
 
 Cotsettlesford, 11. 
 
 Courage, 84. 
 
 Coxwell, 104.
 
 116 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Cranbourn, 15. 
 Crookham, 55. 
 
 -cross, 27. 
 Crowthom, 89. 
 Cuckamslow, 77. 
 Cumnor, 81. 
 
 Denchworth, 106. 
 -dene, -den, 28. 
 Denford, 45. 
 Didcot, 26. 
 Donnington, 95. 
 -down, -don, 30. 
 Draycot, 27. 
 Drayton, 95. 
 Duxford, 45. 
 
 Early, 72. 
 Eastbury, 22. 
 Easthampstead, 87. 
 Easton, 95. 
 Eaton Hastings, 95. 
 Egley, 73. 
 Enborne, 15. 
 Englefield, 39. 
 Eslitesford, 12. 
 -ey, 34. 
 
 Faircross, 27. 
 Faringdon, 32. 
 Farnborough, 14. 
 Fawley, 74. 
 -field, 38. 
 
 Finehampstead, 87. 
 -ford, 44. 
 Frilford, 46. 
 Frilshara, 56. 
 Fyfield, 39. 
 
 Ganfield, 40. 
 Garford, 46. 
 
 Garston, 96. 
 Ginge, 67. 
 Goosey, 35. 
 -grave, 52. 
 Grimsbury, 22. 
 
 Hagbourne, 15. 
 
 -hale, 52. 
 
 -ham, 53. 
 
 Hampstead Marshall, 87. 
 
 Hampstead Norris, 88. 
 
 -hampton, 102. 
 
 -hamstead, 87. 
 
 Hanney, 35. 
 
 Harwell, 104. 
 
 Hatford, 46. 
 
 Hawkridge, 84. 
 
 -hay, 62. 
 
 Hendred, 86. 
 
 -hill, 62. 
 
 Hinksey, 36. 
 
 Hinton Waldrist, 96. 
 
 -hithe, 63. 
 
 Hodcot, 27. 
 
 -holt, 64. 
 
 Hornier, 80. 
 
 Hundreds of Berkshire, 11. 
 
 Hungerford, 47. 
 
 Hurley, 74. 
 
 -hurst, 64. 
 
 Hurst, 65. 
 
 Ilsley, 75. 
 -ing, 66. 
 Inkpen, 83. 
 
 Kennet, river, 23, 113. 
 Kennington, 97. 
 Kingston Bagpuize, 98. 
 Kingston Lisle, 98. 
 Kintbury, 23.
 
 INDEX 
 
 117 
 
 Lambourn, 16. 
 -land, 71. 
 
 Leckharapstead, 88. 
 Letcombe, 24. 
 -ley, 71. 
 Lockinge, 67. 
 Loddon, 113. 
 Longcot, -27. 
 Longworth, 107. 
 -low, 77. 
 Lyford, 47. 
 
 Mackney, 36. 
 Maidenhead, 63. 
 Marcham, 56. 
 -marsh, 78. 
 -mere (1), 78. 
 -mere (2), 80. 
 Midgrham, 57. 
 Milton, 98. 
 Moreton, 33. 
 Moulsford, 48. 
 
 Nachededorn, 12. 
 Newbury, 23. 
 
 Oakley, 75. 
 Oare, 81. 
 
 Ock, river, 11, 114. 
 -or, -ore, 81. 
 
 Padworth, 107. 
 Pangbourn, 17. 
 Peasemore, 79. 
 -pen, 83. 
 Purley, 75. 
 Pusey, 36. 
 
 Radley, 76. 
 Reading, 69. 
 Remenham, 57. 
 -ridge, 81. 
 
 Ripplesmere, 80. 
 -rith, 85. 
 river-names, 113. 
 Roborough, 14. 
 Ruscombe, 25. 
 
 Sandford, 49. 
 Sandhurst, 65. 
 Sandleford, 49. 
 Seacourt, 107. 
 Shalbourne, 17. 
 Shaw, 110. 
 Shefford, 50. 
 Shellingford, 50. 
 -shet, -sheet, 86. 
 Shinfield, 41. 
 Shippon, 111. 
 Shottesbrook, 19. 
 Shrivenham, 57. 
 Sinodun Hill, 33. 
 Sonning, 69. 
 Sotwell, 104. 
 Sparsholt, 64. 
 Speen, 111. 
 Stanford, 50. 
 -stead, 87. 
 Steventon, 99. 
 Stratfield, 41. 
 Streatley, 76. 
 Sugworth, 108. 
 Sulham, 58. 
 Sulhampstead, 88. 
 Sunninghill, 63. 
 Sunningwell, 105. 
 Sutton Courtney, 99. 
 Swallowfield, 42. 
 
 Thames, 113. 
 Thatcham, 59. 
 Theale, 113. 
 -thorn, 89.
 
 118 PLACE-NAMES OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 Tidmarsh, 78. 
 Tilehurst, 65. 
 -town, -ton, 89. 
 Tubney, 37. 
 Twyford, 51. 
 
 Uffington, 100. 
 Ufton Nervet, 100. 
 Upton, 100. 
 
 Wallingford, 51. 
 Waltham, 59. 
 Wantage, 70. 
 -ware, 103. 
 Warfield, 42. 
 Wargrave, 52. 
 Wasing, 70. 
 Watchfield, 42. 
 Weland's smithy, 114. 
 Welford, 51. 
 
 -well, 103. 
 Weston, 101. 
 
 Whatcomb, Watcumbe, 95. 
 Whistley, 76. 
 Wickham, 60. 
 Wifol, Wiford, 13. 
 Windsor, 82. 
 Winkfield, 43. 
 Winterbourne, 18. 
 Wittenham, 60. 
 Wokefield, 43. 
 Wokingham, 61. 
 Woodhay, 62. 
 Woolhampton, 101. 
 Woolstone, 101. 
 Wootton, 102. 
 -worth, 105. 
 Wytham, 61. 
 
 Yattenden, Yattendon, 29. 
 
 Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press by Horace Hart, M.A.
 
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