C

Cabbage-lane (Hereford).

The popular explanation 'Capuchin-lane' is wrong by more than two centuries. The order of 'Hermit Friars Minor' was not founded until 1525, and it was some years later that the Italian populace gave them the half-affectionate half-contemptuous nickname of Capuchins.

*Cae-beddow [St Margarets].

W. cae, 'a field,' and bedw, 'birch trees.'

Caedraen Wood (Galway).

So in 1831 Ord. Map.

W. cae draen, 'field of thorns.'

Cae-flwyn (Ewyas Harold).

The second element is prob. llwyn, 'a bush.'

Cae-wendy (St Weonards).

Second element is possibly gwyn-ty, 'white-house.'

Cagedale and Cagebrook (Clehonger).

Cairon (Michaelchurch Eskley).

Prob. corruption of W. cair, pl. ceirion, 'berries.'

*Calcheberge [?].

Calderwell (Bodenham).

Perhaps the Caldewell of the Charter Roll, 1283, and Inq. p.m. 1300.

Caldicott (Aconbury).

Skeat says the meaning of this word is that 'the original settler's cot was in a bleak situation.'

Cf. Caldecote (Herts.), Coldcoats (Lancs.).

Caldridge (Aston Ingham).

Cf. Mintridge. There is a Half-ridge in Acton Beauchamp (Worcs.).

Callow.

O.E. calu, calwe (Lat. calvus), 'bare, bald.'

There is also a Callow Marsh in Cowarne, a Callow in Walford-on-Wye, Callow Hills in Munsley, and The Callow in Welsh Newton. There are several Callows in Worcs.

Calver Hill (Norton Canon).

Akin to Callow above.

Camdore (Orcop).

Welsh cam dwr, 'crooked stream.'

Camp Farm (Bullingham).

Caplar Camp (Fownhope).

Popular etymology sees in 'Capler' (as in 'Oyster Hill') a survival of the name of Ostorius Scapula, who fought with Caratacus among the Herefordshire hills. Judge Cooke thinks 'Capler' is a corruption of 'Capitularius,' because the Dean and Chapter have been owners for many centuries.

How Caple.

Old Nor.-French capele = chapel. There are two Capels in Kent, one in Surrey, one in Suffolk, one in Lancs., and ten or more in Wales.

King's Caple.

Caradoc Court (Sellack).

Evidently 'The camp of Caradoc' (Caratacus).

Carey (Ballingham).

The name is scattered over quite a wide district on both sides of the Wye, in Ballingham on the right bank, and in Fawley and Brockhampton on the left. We have Carey Hamlet, Carey Court (a mile away), and Carey Field in Bollingham, and, across the Wye, Carey Wood, Carey Mill, Carey Bower, and Carey Boat (a ferry on the river). It is possibly a corruption of W. caer (pl. caerau), 'a fortified camp.' There is a Caerswall Farm in Upton Bishop, of which I find no early mention, though it is part of the glebe.

Carthage (Foy).

The 18th century rage for classical names led to this new title being given to what had been 'The Homme' since at least 1420 (Inq. p.m.). It was certainly 'Homme House' in 1753, and in print as 'Carthage' in 1767.

Carwardine (Madley).

Carwardine Green (Preston-on-Wye).

For -wardine see Appendix. I cannot interpret the first element Car-.

Castle Farm (Yarkhill).

There is no evidence, either historical or topographical, that there ever was a Castle in Yarkhill. Yet we find in 1535 'Thomas Etkyns of Castell, in Yarkhill, yeoman.' And the farm still bears the name. Of the origin of 'Castle Nibole' (Little Birch) and 'Castle Vach' (Clodock) I can find no evidence. 'Castle Street' (Hereford) is mentioned in a charter of 1375 'in vico vocato Castelstrete.'

Castleton, Upper and Lower (Hardwick).

There is a Castleton also in Ocle Pychard.

Catley (Bosbury).

'The lea of Catta' (in Onom.) or 'of the cat' (i.e. frequented by wild cats). As in Catlow (Lancs.), Catterall (Lancs.), Catskill (Worcs. and Wilts.), and Catmore (Berks.), it is difficult to say whether the reference is to a personal name or to the animal; the latter is certainly to be traced in 'Wilde Katte heges' (Cambs. Ped. Fin.). In Kenfig (Glam.) is a Pwll-Cath, which in 1633 was Catteputte. In Mordiford is a place called on the Ord. Map (1831) 'Catstails.'

Cayo (Llanveyno).

Plur. of Welsh cae, 'a field,' if Ord. Map is to be trusted. But there is an old Celtic word kaio, kaion, 'house, dwelling, settlement.' See also Keyo.

Cefn-coed (Kilpeck).

Welsh, 'ridge-wood.'

Cefn Farm (Dulas).

Welsh cefn, 'a ridge.'

Chadnor (Dilwyn).

'Ceabba's bank.' There is nothing to show how Ceabba got confused with Ceadda (i.e. Chad). A Roger de Kadenore is a witness to a charter in 1220. For the second element see Appendix, -over.

Chanston (Vowchurch).

J.H.Round thinks this is possibly the Dom. Alcamestune, 'Ealhhelm's tun' (the first h=c). The first element in the T. de Nevill form seems to be a Norman scribe's method of writing the English pers. name Cyne.

Checkley (Mordiford).

'Meadow of Caec, Caecca, Cec, or Cecce ' (all in Onom.).

Cf. Checkendon (Oxon.) and Kekewich (Ches.).

Cheyney (Bishop's Frome).

Chickward (Kington).

For the second element see Appendix, -wardine. The pers. name involved may be Caec or Cec.

Chilstone (Madley).

'The tun of Cild.' Cild may be a personal name, or it may be 'a royal prince.' Vinogradoff thinks it was an epithet denoting a person comparable in status to the 'sergeant' of Norman times. There is a Childes Malmeshull in Aconbury Accounts, 1400, and there is a 'Chilson Orls' near to Madley. The 'Childestone' in Tax. Eccles. (Oxfordshire) has also become to-day Chilson, losing the t as well as the d.

Cholstrey (Leominster).

O.E. ceorl and treu, 'the churl's tree.' In the Leom. Cart. there is a Cherlesgrave !

The Churn (a landslip, in Orleton parish).

Cinders and Cinderswood (Laysters).

Claston (Dormington).

Clater Park (Bromyard).

*Clatretune [near Kington].

Clearbrook (Pembridge).

Clee Head (Byford).

O.E. cleof, 'cliff,' which later lost its f and became Cleo. Clee Hill (Salop) is in Dom. Cleie; Cleobury (Mortimer) is in Dom. Cleberie.

Cf. Cleethorpes (Lincs.) which is not in Dom.

Clehonger.

O.E. claeg, 'clay,' and hangra, once said to be 'a meadow', but Duignan says 'a wood on a hill-side', and McClure, 'the slope of a hill', 'Clay-bank'.

Cf. Birchanger (Herts.), Alderhanger (Worcs.), Timberhanger (Worcs.), Rishangles (Suff.), Clayhanger (Devon), and several Oakhangers. There is a Clinger (Glos.), which was in 1138 Cleangra, and in 1263 Clehungra. See Hungerhill.

Clencher's Mill (Eastnor).

See Glynch Brook.

Cleve (Ross).

Cleve is in M.E. a variant for clif, from O.E. cleof, 'a cliff.'

Cf. Cleveland (Yorks.). Dom. has 12 Clives in Yorks. alone.

Clifford.

'Steep ford.' There are in England some half-dozen Cliffords, and about 15 Cliftons.

Clifford's Mesne (Linton).

Mesne is a law term, the Anglo-French spelling of the O.F. meien, meen, mean, Mod. F. moyen. A mesne lord is one who holds from a superior lord; and mesne land is the estate of a mesne lord.

Clodock.

Clydog, son of Clydwyn, was king in Ewias, and was murdered on the bank of the Monnow. There is a river Clywedog in Radnorshire.

Clouds (Mordiford).

No old forms. J.S.Wood thinks it is the W. clawdd, 'a dyke, ditch, fence.'

Cobhall (Allensmore).

An interesting example of progressive corruption. Starting as 'Cobba's well,' it becomes first his 'wall,' and then his 'hall.'

Cobnash (Kingsland).

Possibly 'Cobba's Ash-tree.'

Cockshot.

A cockshot is said to be 'a broad way or glade through which game (cocks) might dart or shoot, so as to be caught in nets.' One in Lancs. is so named as early as 1377, and in a Brecon Charter ante 1232 is mentioned a 'Cocsute.' The first element, however, may well be cocc with the meaning of 'ravine, narrow valley' (see under Cockyard). The name is found in several counties, notably perhaps in Worcs. and Herefordshire. In the latter county we have (spellings taken from Ord. Map, 1831) Cockshoot Farm (Little Dewchurch and in Brimfield), Cockshoot (Putley), Cockshut (Stoke Edith), and Cockshed Wood (Orcop). This last is, in a Will of 1603, 'Teer Cockshut,' and in a Courtfield MS. of 1653, 'The Cockshott.' In Orcop also is Cocksbrook Wood, and near by, in Kentchurch, Wernycoc. In 1722 there is a Cock Shot Close in Goodrich, and a Cock Shot Field in Credenhill. In Mordiford (1831) is Woodshuts. For second element see Scutt, and cf. Aldershot (Hants), Bagshot (Surrey), Shotover (Oxon.). But Bagshot (Berks.) is O.E. to baggan gete, 'Bagga's Gate.'

Cockyard (Abbeydore).

There is a Cockcroft (farm) near Leominster, a Cockpits in Bredwardine, and a Cocksheath in Garway. There was a Cocks Land in Bridstow in 1630. The prefix Cock- is not uncommon in place-names, but its meaning is doubtful. It is generally found on or near hills, say Napier and Stevenson. It may be a personal name, Cocca; it may be the name of the bird; or it may (as in Old Norse) mean 'throat,' which would geographically be 'a narrow gorge, valley, or pass'.

Coda (Walterstone).

Prob. some corruption of W. coed, though the final a is difficult to explain, since coed does not make its plural in -au.

Coddington.

Isaac Taylor says O.E. coton, plur. of cote, 'a mud cottage'; but the first element is rather O.E. Coddan, gen. of Cod, Codda, or Coda, a local form of Goda, a very common O.E. name.

The Coed (Crasswall).

Welsh coed, 'a wood.'

Coedmoor Common (Much Dewchurch).

The second element is Welsh mawr, 'great,' which popular etymology has turned into the English 'moor.'

Coed-path (St Margaret's).

Welsh poth, 'what bulges, a boss,' hence a hillock.

Coed-Robin (Michaelchurch Eskley).

Coed-y-gravel (Walterstone).

W. grafel is (1) 'gravel', 'coarse sand'; (2) 'a ruffian'. So this is either 'Gravel-wood', or 'The villain's wood'.

Coldborough (Upton Bishop).

The early form seems to mean 'hill on which the cole-wort grows'.

Cold Green (Bosbury).

Cold Harbour (Kentchurch).

See Harbour.

Cold Nose (Haywood).

Coldwell (Kingstone).

See under Meer Court. There is a Caldewelle in or near Pencombe in 1300.

*Colebroc [stream somewhere near Bacton].

Collington.

'Tun of Coll or Colla'.

Cf. Collingbourne (Wilts.), Collingham (Notts. and Yorks.).

Colwall.

'Cold well'. As often, -well has become -wall.

Combe and Cwm.

These words are found everywhere in the county. Combe is a township of Presteign (in which also is Combe Tump); Combe Hill is in Coddington. There are also Coomb's Farm (Cradley), Coombe's Moor (Byton), Combeswood (Collington), Calcomb (Hampton Bishop), Raycombe (Wellington Heath), The Cwm (Dorstone, Llanrothal and Peterchurch), Cwm, Upper, Middle, Lower, Little, Great, etc. (Little Dewchurch, Walterstone, Dulas, and Llanveyno), Kerrysgate Cwm (Abbeydore), The Com (Dilwyn), Cwm-Dulas (Dulas), Cwm Steps (Crasswall), Cwm Craig (Little Dewchurch), Cwm Crave (Lingen), Cwm Coched (Clodock), Cwm Bullog (Clodock), Cwm Brian (Rowlestone), Cwmadoc (Garway), Cwmma mound (Braley), Cydcwm (Hardwick), Glascwm (Welsh Newton). Lib. Lan. mentions also a *Cwm Barrok yn istrad Dour (i.e. in the Golden Valley). For the connection between E. combe and W. cwm see Appendix.

Comberton (Orleton).

'Tun of Cumbra' (a pers. name) or 'of the Welshman'.

*Combroke [apparently near Kington].

Conigree (Ledbury).

'Rabbit-warren'. The Coney Garth was a common appendage to a country house. H.O. cites twelve Cunnigers in Pembrokeshire. Baddeley mentions several in Glos. (with forms coneygar, conygre, coneygre, conyger, congre, cunger). There is a Conygar Hill in Som., and a Conegore in the same county, and a Coney Garth in Wilts. Monastic cartularies often refer to the cuningeria or rabbit-warren: and the word has been naturalized in Wales, e.g. Gwningar, in Anglesey. O. French has a word conniniere. There is a field in Ballingham which is still called cunygare.

Cookhorn (Stoke Lacy).

Coppet (Wood, Goodrich).

Cf. Coppice and Copse, both akin to F. couper, to cut.

Copthorne (Woolhope).

Corin (brook).

Trib. of the Leadon, rises in Putley, falls into the Leadon south of Marcle.

Cornage (The Lea).

Corras (Gt and Lit., farms, Kentchurch).

The word is apparently W. and the second element is W. rhos, 'a moor, heath'. The first element may be W. canol, 'middle'.

Cott (Dulas).

Also The Cott (Eardisland), Cotmore (Lyonshall), and Cothill (Turnastone).

Coughton (Walford).

The first element is probably the pers. name Cocca, but it may be O.E. coc, 'a cock'. See under Cockshot and Cockyard. Near by is Cokebury, Coughbury, or Cobrey Park.

Hall Court (Bishop's Frome).

'Court' is here used in its true and literal meaning, not as a synonym for 'hall', but 'an enclosed space'. 'The enclosed space attached to (or belonging to) the Hall'. The word 'Court' is everywhere a sign of Norman influence: and Herefordshire being the most thoroughly Normanized county in England, it is not surprising that the word should be used in the county, as it still is, for 'House' or 'Hall'. 'Every manor hereabouts', writes Richard Symonds of Herefordshire in 1645, 'is called a court'. The word is the O. Fr. cort, Lat. cohors, 'a clear space enclosed by a wall', then 'a large building', 'a castle'. It had reached England before Dom. in which we find Dovercourt, though no other instance is found for the next two hundred years.

Monk's Court (Eardisland).

Evidently used in the true sense of Court, since it is a meadow only.

Court-a-Pilla (Newton-in-Clodock).

Courtfield (Welsh Bicknor).

Court Llacca (Clodock).

Court-o'-Park (Pixley).

See Parkhold.

Court Plocks (Allensmore).

See Pleck.

Courty Grove (Kentchurch).

Covenhope (Aymestrey).

It is difficult to say why the present name goes back to the T. de Nevill form in v. A somewhat similar difficulty exists with regard to Evesbatch (q.v.), where the v first appears in the middle of the 18th century. For the second element see App. III.

Cowarne.

The ending -arne probably represents the O.E. aern, 'house', 'place', found in 'barn' (compound of bere and aern, 'barley-house'). The first element would then be O.E. cu, 'a cow'.

Cowl Barn (Colwall).

Cowley Gate (Cradley).

Coxall (Egton).

There is also a Coxall Knoll (Brampton Brian) and a Coxhall (Buckton). They may all mean 'cock's meadow' or 'the meadow of Coc'. In Garway is a Coxheath.

*Coyed Llanke [Garway].

W. coed-llangc, 'the young man's wood'. Or possibly llanke is corrupted from llanerch, 'a glade'.

Crack-o'-hill (Much Dewchurch).

Cradley.

'Meadow of Creda or Creoda'.

Cf. Credenhill.

Crasswall.

O.E. cerse, 'water-cress', and wella (often in M.E. wale), 'a well'. There are in England three or four Cresswells, two Carswells, a Karswell, a Kersewell, and a Keresley. A farm in Much Marcle is called Caerswall; but in the absence of early forms, we cannot say whether this has the same derivation or not.

Credenhill.

'Hill of Creda or Creoda'. "One Creda died in A.D. 593 (A.S. Chron.) and has been assumed to be the first king of Mercia" (Haverfield).

Cf. Cradley.

Crega (Cusop).

May be a corruption of creigiau, pl. of craig, 'a rock'; or of crugau, pl. of crug, 'a mound'.

Crick's Green (Stoke Lacy).

Perhaps W. crug, 'a mound', as in Creech Hill (Som.), Crickhowell (Brecon), Cricklade (Wilts.). But there are no definitely Welsh place-names in this part of the county. It may be quite a modern name, arising accidentally.

Criftins (Upper Sapey).

The Criggalls [Goodrich].

Criseley (Treville).

Crocker's Ash (Ganarew).

Croft.

O.E. croft, 'a small enclosed field'.

Croft Ambury.

A camp with ditch and ramparts in the park of Croft Castle. The 1831 Ord. Map gives the second word as Ambrey. Local tradition, of course, tells us that it was the camp of the British King Ambrosius (481-508). There is a Croft Ffloyd in Wormelow in 1722.

Crofty-Candy (farm, Kenderchurch).

*Croose (Hentland).

Crosens (Bodenham).

Cross Colloe (Llandinabo).

W. croes collwydd, 'hazelwood cross'.

Crossington (Upton Bishop).

Crowhill (Upton Bishop).

'Hill frequented by crows'.

Cf. Crowthorn (Berks.), Crowmarsh (Oxon.), and The Crowe (Pembs.) which is in William of Worcester 'rupes vocata le Crowe'.

Cruix Hill (Acton Beauchamp).

Cruxwell (Bromyard).

Cublington (Madley).

A Prebend of the Cathedral.

The Cummings (Colwall).

Curl Brook.

A trib. of the Arrow, near Lyonshall.

Cursneh Hill (Leominster).

Cusop.

Possibly 'Ceawa's enclosed valley'. H.O. suggests that the first element in Cheweshope (Cewe) is Cewydd, the Cambro-British 'St Swithin' or weather Saint, to whom several churches are dedicated. His name would become Cewi, just as St David's name Dewidd became Dewi (cf. Dewchurch). But Cusop is almost certainly the westernmost English settlement; and the second element -hope points to an English origin of the word. There is a Cusop (farm) in Avenbury.

*Cutestorn [Domesday Hundred].

The second element is, as so often in the names of places where these ancient assemblies met, the land-mark tree, O.E. thorn. The first element may be the same as Cutt in Cutt Mill below; but that also is of unknown origin.

Cutnell (Tedstone Wafer).

Cutt Mill [Goodrich].

There is a Cuttimede (in same document 'Chutmede') in Hyde, temp. Hen. III.

Cydcwm (Hardwick).

W. cyd, 'a junction' and cwm, 'a valley'.

Cymma (Brilley).

Corruption of W. cymoedd or cymydd, pl. of cwm, 'a valley'.

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