A

*Abbedeleye [in or near Westhide].

• 1303 Abbedeleye, F.A.
• 1346 Abbedeleye, F.A.
• 1428 Abudley, F.A.
• 1431 Abbedley, F.A.

Abbeydore.

• circ. 1130 Dour, Dor, Dowr, Lib. Land.
• 1147 Dore, Charter.
• 1291 Dore, Tax. Eccl.
• 1541 'the towne of Doore' Aug. Of.
• circ. 1550 Dour, Dowr, Dowre, Leland.
• 1727 Door, Hist. by its rector.
• 1831 Abbey Dore, Ord. Map.

A house on the bank of the river is (19th century) called Doyer Villa, a local Anglicized form, quite modern. Welsh dwfr, or dwr, 'river, water'. But H. O. (III. 268) says Dour cannot phonetically represent dwfr.

Aberhall or Abbershall (Hentland).

• 1569 Abrehale, Courtfield MS.
• 1722 Aberhall, Wormelow Terrier.

*Acoll [Goodrich].

• 1722 Acoll, Terrier.

Aconbury.

• circ. 1130 Acorneburye, Lib. Land.
• 1213 Akornebiri, Cl. R.
• 1218 Acornebury, Pat. R.
• circ. 1270 Acorneburia, Gl. Cart.
• 1276 Acornebyry, Ep. Reg.

'Burh of' ? perhaps 'Acorn' used as a proper name: but there is no person named 'Acorn' in Onom., nor have any examples of the form 'acorn' been found in use before 1440. The O.E. form is aecern, 'fruit of the acre', i.e. unenclosed land. Possibly Acorn is a corruption of Ecebearn or Ecgbeorn, a witness to a Worcester charter, circ. 1055.
Cf. Alconbury (Hunt.) which is ante 1300 Alcmundebir' 'burgh of Alchmund'.
In the earlier entries in Lib. Land. Aconbury hill is Cair rein, 'camp of the lance'.

The Acre (Ewyas Harold; and in Upton Bishop).

There are also Forty Acre Farm (Abbeydore), Forty Acres Farm (Kingsland), and Starve Acre (Kilpeck).

Acton Beauchamp [In the Pipe Roll 1160 there is a puzzling ntry relating to 'Hereford Belcamp'.]

O.E. dc-tun,'enclosure with the oaks'. The name of its territorial lord added to distinguish it from the ten or more other Actons.

Adam's Hill (Hereford).

• ante 1172 Adamishille, Heref. Ch.

Adforton (Leintwardine).

• 1086 Alfertintune, Dom.
• 1321 Atfertone, Ep. Reg.
• 1370 Hattefordone, Ep. Reg.
• 1377 Atfortone, Ep. Reg.
• 1393 Attefortone, Ep. Reg.
• circ. 1645 Adforton, 'so called because on south side of an ancient fort'. Silas Taylor.

From some unrecorded name, possibly an unusual form of Eadweard. The Dom. form must be corrupt.

*Adhekerdeston ['nigh unto Lutley'].

• circ. 1281 Adhekerdeston, 'Customs of Hereford'.

Prob. from Eadgeard, a name found in Onom.

Adley (Brampton Brian).

• 1086 Edelactune, Adelestune, Dom. So identified by J.H.R.
• 1479 Adelahton alias Adlaton, Ind. Ct Rolls. So identified by J.H.R.
• 1524 Adlaghton, Cott. Chart.

'Tun of AEthelac'. We have no traces of the process by which -tun was dropped, and the last syllable of the pers. name turned into -ley.
Cf. Ellastone (Derbs.) which is ante 1700 'Adelakestone'.

Adzor (Wellington).

• 1345 Adesore, Ep. Reg.
• 1346 Addeshore, Addesore, Ep. Reg.

The second element is evidently -ofer, 'border, margin'. The first element probably is a personal name Ada or Adda.
Cf. Hadsor (Worcs.) which is Dom. Hadesore.

Ailey (Kinnersley).

• 1086 Walelege, Dom. (J.H.R. thinks possibly).
• 1575 Adeley, Heref. Cath. MS.

*Akes [in Hund. 'Brocsash', somewhere near Maund].

• 1243 Akes, T. de N.
• 1272 Akes, Crasswall Chart.
• no date Akes, Leom. Chart.
• 1286 Le Aka, Ch. Rolls.

*Alac [in 'Lene', i.e. Kingsland].

• 1086 Alac, Dom.

*Alcamestune ['in valle Stradelei'].

• 1086 Alcamestune, Dom.

Alcox (brook, Wigmore).

*Aldyazdestres [in Tillington or Burghill].

• 1395 communis via apud Aldyazdestres, Ep. Reg.

Later on in same document it is 'dicta via de Saldyaz de Strewe'. Both forms are evidently very corrupt.

Allensmore.

• 1265 Alainesmor, Ch. Rolls.
• 1291 Moralayn, Tax. Eccl.
• 1341 More Alani cum capella de Clehungr, Non. Inq.
• 1428 Aleynesmore, F.A.

Alan de Plokenet, lord of Kilpeck in 1272 (and evidently for some time earlier), reclaimed this portion of Haywood. There is an Allenshill in Kilpeck, which in 1367 was Aleynshulle (Ep. Reg.).

Almeley.

• 1086 Elmelie, Dom.
• circ. 1200 Almelege, Gerv. Cant.
• 1285 Almaly, Ch. Rolls.
• 1289 Almalye, Ep. Reg.
• 1291 Almaly, Tax. Ecc.
• 1303 Almalie, F.A.
• 1341 Almali, Non. Inq.

O.E. Elm-lea,'Elm-meadow'.

Almshall (Farm, Holmer; Land, Clehonger).

Property which for many centuries has belonged to the poor inmates of St Ethelbert's Hospital, Hereford. The second element is probably O.E. healh, 'a meadow'. See Appendix under -hall.

*Almundestune ['in valle Stradelie'].

• 1086 Almundestune, Dom.

'Tun of Aylmund or Aethelmund'.

Alt Bough (Little Dewchurch).

• 1671 Altbough, H'shire Hearth Taxation List.
• 1722 Altobough, Wormelow Terrier.

The first element is W. alit, 'a cliff' the second probably an adj. akin to bwa, 'an arch':- 'arched cliff'.

Alt Wint (Little Dewchurch).

W. alit gwynt, 'windy cliff'.
There is a Winthill in Cradley, but that is probably of Eng. origin.

Alton (Ross and Dilwyn).

• Ross Dilwyn
• 1086 Alwintune, Dom. circ. 1215 Aletone, Her. Cath. Ch.
• 1243 Alincton, T. de Nevill. 1303 Alleton, F.A.

'Ealdwine's tun'. 'Ala's tun' or 'Aldwin's tun'.

Altyrynys (Walterstone).

The first element may be W. alit, 'a cliff', as in the word above. The second element is ynys, 'an island'. But ynys is often used (like the English -ey) of a meadow along a river. It is certainly very loosely used in Welsh place-names, in many of which it cannot mean 'an island'.

Amberley (Marden).

• 1086 Amburlege, Dom.
• 1243 Aumbresle, Chart. R.
• 1291 Ambresleye, Tax. Eccl.
• 1327 Aumburleye, Plac. de Banco.
• 1341 Amberley, Non. Inq.

Johnston says from O.E. amber, omber, 'a pitcher' - 'meadow of the pitcher'. Others would make the first element a man's name - Skeat thinks Aembriht, an occasional form of Eanbeorht. Or he may be Amber (not in Onom.), or Amalbeorht, or Ambrose. Alexander thinks Amber may be a Celtic word of unknown meaning.
Cf. Amberley (Glos.).
Amberley (Sussex).
Ombersley (Worcs.).
Amber Hill (Lincs.).

Ankerdine Hill (Bromyard).

• 1275 Oncredham, Sub. R.
• 1327 Ancredam, Sub. R.

From O.E. ancra, 'an anchorite, anchoress, nun' - 'the ham of an anchorite'. Later there seems to have been confusion with the common Herefordshire ending -wardine (or perhaps with -dene).
Cf. Anker (Warw. river, with two hermitages and a nunnery),
Ankerwyke (Middlesex) 'anchorite's village'.

Aramstone (King's Caple).

• 1352 Aramstone, Ep. Reg.

Archenfield.

• circ. 380 Ariconium, Iter Anton. ?
• 915 Ircingafeldes, Yrcingafeld, Iercingafeld, A.S. Chron.
• 1086 Arcenfelde, Arcenefelde, Dom.
• circ. 1120 Jerchynfeld, Glos. Cart.
• circ. 1130 Ergyng, Ercincg, Ergin, Erchyng, Erchynfeld, Urcenevelde, etc., Lib. Land.
• 1138 Erchenefelde, Glos. Cart.
• circ. 1147 Erging, Geof. Mon.
• circ. 1150 Herchenefeld, Brec. Cart.
• 1243 Urchenefeld in Wallia, T. de Nev.
• 1291 Irchenefeld, Yrcheneshome, Tax. Eccl.
• circ. 1550 Herchinfield, Leland.
• no date Ierchenfeld, Herchenefeld, Glos. Cart.

Prof. Napier says the A.S. Chron. forms can be phonetically connected with Ariconium, though he considers the element -inga as possibly indicative rather of a Saxon derivation. The word appears in more than a dozen different forms in Lib. Land. Of these forms the earliest seems to be Ercincg or Ergyng. The correct Welsh modification of Ariconium would be Ergun. But it is curious that the Deanery of Archenfield does not include Ross or Weston (where Ariconium stood). And why is there still an Urchingfield in Hardwicke, near Hay, thirty-five miles west of Ariconium?

*Argoedlank [Liberty of Wormelow, 1722].

The W. prefix ar- simply intensifies the meaning; the middle element is coed, 'a wood'. W. llange is 'a young man'; but lank may be corrupted from llanerch, 'a glade'. See *Coyed Llanke.

Arkstone (Kingstone).

• ante 1173 Archelestune, Chart. Her. Cath.
• 1243 Arclestun, T. de Nev.
• 1303 Arcleston, F.A.
• 1316 Arkeston, F.A.
• 1334 Arclestone, Ep. Reg.
• 1346 Arcleston, F.A.
• 1431 Arkeston, F.A.

The tun of Earkyll (=Earcytel).
Cf. (a few miles away) Thruxton (Thurkeleston in 1291).

Arrow (river).

• 958 Erge, Birch Ch. [Strangely enough Birch gives in a charter of 825 the form Hearge for the Middlesex Harrow.]
• Ante 1272, 'molendinum quod situm est super Hareye in Lenhales', Wormesley Chart.

In mediaeval Welsh MSS. the word occurs as Arw, and in an older form Arwy or Arrwy. Johnston thinks it may be from the same root as Welsh aru,'to plough'. It has been connected with O.E. arewe, 'an arrow'.
The Somerset Oare is in 1264 Ar.

Ash (Bridstow) sometimes called Ashe Ingen.

• 1086 Ascis, Dorn.
• 1123 Ach, Leom. Cart.
• circ. 1250 Esse, Glos. Cart.
• 1300 Assche, Ep. Reg.
• 1300 Asche, Ewias Harold Cart.

Evidently O.E. aesc, 'an ash tree'. The word is found as an element in many H'shire placenames:- e.g. The Ash (Much Birch), Tump Ash (Dilwyn), Ashwood (Eye), Hope's Ash (Hope Mansell), The Ashley (Wellington), Ashminton (Bromyard), Snogg's Ash (Foy), Crocker's Ash (Ganarew).
For 'Ingen' see Aston Ingham.

Ashminton (Bromyard).

No old forms. Prob. 'tun of Aescmann or Asman.'

Ashperton.

• 1086 Spertune, Dom.
• 1102 Aspertone, Glos. Cart.
• 1138 Aspretuna, Glos. Cart.
• 1291 'Stretton & Asp'ton', Tax. Eccl.
• 1341 Asperton, Non. Inq.

Possibly 'tun of Asbeorht' or 'Asbret'. In Dom. S often represents a full syllable; e.g. Shrops. Easthope is Dom. Stope.

Ashton (Eye).

• 1303 Aleston, F.A.
• 1316 Ayston, F.A.
• 1346 Aleston, F.A.
• 1428 Alleston, F.A.
• 1431 Asheton, F.A.
• 1478 Ashtone juxta Leom., Inq. p.m.

'Tun of Ala', a recorded man. Liquids like l disappear easily. Then the name becomes assimilated to some well-known word.

Aston.

• 1086 Hesintune, Dom.
• 1479 Assiston, Ind. Ct Rolls.

Prob. 'tun of Aese' (gen. Aesan). By the 15th century the gen. in -es (-is) has become the usual form.

Aston (Kingsland).

• 1123 Esscetuna, Leom. Cart.
• 1431 Assheton, F.A.

The first element is O.E. aesc, 'an ash tree'.

Aston Ingham.

• 1086 Estune, Dom.
• 1243 Estun Ingan, T. de Nev.
• temp. Hen. III Estona, Delimitation.
• 1291 Aston, Tax. Eccl.
• 1317 Astone Ingayn, Ep. Reg.
• 1341 Aston, Non. Inq.

O.E. east tun, 'east town', in relation to Ross, or possibly to Ariconium. The Ingayn family held Aston in the 13th century. Aston Cruze is one mile west, but I have not found any explanation of its name, unless Cruze is cor. from Lat. crux.

Athelstan's Wood (Aconbury).

• 1227 Aysteneswude, Close Rolls.
• 1228 Eystaneswod, Chart. Rolls.
• 1258 Alstanewod, Chart. Her. Corp.
• 1265 Adhelstaneswude, Acon. Chart.
• 1302 Athelstanwode, Quo War.
• 1348 Elystaneswode, Court Roll.
• 1592 Aylston's Wood, Title Deeds.

Attwood (Holmer).

Thomas atte Wode was ordained by Bishop of Hereford in 1335; and John atte Wode in 1345. (The ordination lists contain almost exclusively local names.) The personal names sufficiently explain the placename.
Cf. Nash, Norke.

Aubro (Wellington).

Aulden (Ivington).

Avenbury.

• 1086 Aweneburi, Dom.
• 1252 Avenebury, Glos. Cart.
• 1275 Avenbyry, Ep. Reg.
• 1291 Avenebur', Tax. Eccl.
• 1320 Avenebury, Will of John de Aquablanca. [He leaves half a mark 'monialibus de Avenebury' - a nunnery of which no other record exists.]
• 1327 Avebury, Plac. de Banco.
• 1341 Avenbury, Non. Inq.

The -ene seems to represent a gen. plur. The word might therefore be Aeffena-byrig, 'burh of the Aeffes'. But this would be most unusual. It is more likely that -ene represents the gen. sing. in -an, making the word 'burh of Aeffe'.

Awnells (Much Marcle).

Aycrop's Moor (Allensmore).

• circ. 1220 quarrera de Acrop, Chart. Her. Cath.

There is mentioned in a Cath. Chart. circ. 1215 'Heicropi Gardinum' (in Allensmore). A little later we have 'Aycropesmore', and in 1291 we find 'apud Aycrop'.

Aylstone Hill (Hereford).

• ante 1038 Aegelnothes stan, Kemble.
• 1266 Ailestone, Glos. Cart.
• 1341 Ayleston, Non. Inq.

Aegilnoth or Aegil is the sun-archer of Teutonic mythology. But the person who gave his name to Aylstone Hill is more probably a prosaic English settler. The second element is one of the few -stones which genuinely mean 'a stone'.
Cf. Ailscroft (Bosbury).
Elsdon (Lyonshall).
Heliston (see Pontrilas).

Aylton.

• 1138 Ailenetona, Anc. Chart. (J.H.R.).
• 1278 Alhamstone, Ep. Reg.
• 1291 Aylmeton, Tax. Eccl.
• 1303 Aylmeton, F.A.
• 1341 Alyston, Non. Inq.

The earliest form suggests O.E. 'tun of Aethelwine'. But the scribe of Tax. Eccles. confuses the first element with Aethelmaer, Normanized into Aylmer.

Aymestrey.

• 1086 Elmodestreu, Dom.
• 1275 Aylmondestre, Ep. Reg.
• 1291 Ailmondestre, Tax. Eccl.
• 1302 Aylmundestre, Quo War.
• 1341 Aylmondestre, Non. Inq.
• 1538 Aylemestre, Val. Eccl.

Zachrisson says the Aylmond- here represents the Normanizing of the O.E. Aethelmund, the contraction being due to the inability of the Normans to pronounce th.
-treu is the regular Dom. form for O.E. treow,'a tree'.
Cf. Greitreu, now Greytree Hundred.