S

Saddle Bow (Orcop).

The hill is evidently so called from its shape.

St Devereux.

In Woolhope as late as 1514 there is a Sacella Sancti Dubritii, which explains the still existing Devereux Park and Devereux Pool. The present form of the name is one of the few traces we have of N.-Fr. influence on the pl.-ns. of the county. That these influences are so few is the more strange, seeing that Herefordshire was the most thoroughly Normanized of all the English counties.

St Margarets.

St Weonards.

From the 1330 entry we learn that St Weonards, with Llangarren and Hentland, were chapelries dependent on Lugwardine. Nothing much is known of St Gwennarth.

*Salberga [?].

J.H.R. cannot identify; so I hesitate to suggest Sawbery (q.v.).

Sallys (Kinnersley).

Without old forms it is hard to say even whether this word is Welsh or English. Kinnersley, though not far from a district in which names are mainly Welsh, has English names, for the most part, all round it. The connection, therefore, which suggests itself is with O.E. seal, salh, or salig, 'a willow', which is the first element in Salford, Salwick, etc.

Saltmarshe (Bromyard).

'Salt marsh'.

Sapey.

O.E. saepige, 'spruce-fir'. Sapness in Woolhope (of which we have no old forms) is possibly akin in origin, though the 1831 Ord. Map unaccountably calls it Sharpnage.

Sarnesfield.

The first element seems to be O.E. sarnes, 'sorrow', which would give 'field of sorrow' as the meaning. It might be 'field on the ridgeway', but this is unlikely, being a hybrid.

Sawbery Hill (Bredenbury).

In 1243 there is a Salebir somewhere in this neighbourhood, which, in view of the wild spelling of T. de Nevill, we are justified in taking as referring to Sawbery.

Scutterdine (Mordiford).

'Farm on the shoot or watercourse'. See Scutt below, and -wardine in Appendix.

Scutt Mill (Hereford).

So in Price's Map 1802. Probably akin to O.E. sceotan, 'to shoot'. See also Cockskoot and Havod. Middendorf says it is O.E. scytte, 'a dam, weir'. The Shuts is a place in Aymestrey.

Seabournes (Sutton).

The family of Seabourne held lands in Sutton for about a century circ. 1540-1640. It is always hard to say whether the place takes its name from the family, or the family from the place. Usually, of course, it is the latter, probably here the former. Seabourne is still a surname in the county.

Sellack.

'Church of St Teseliachus' (Welsh Sulac) to whom the church is still dedicated. The village was once Baysham (q.v.), and Sellack the name only of the church. The quotation from Leland shows the change of name at work. Now Sellack is the village, and Baysham (Court) a farm therein.

Sellarsbrook (Whitchurch).

*Serland's Lane [off Castle Street, Hereford].

There is an unidentified Sirland in Leom. Cart.

Shark House (Clehonger).

The Shawls (Crasswall).

Shelwick (Holmer).

'The wick of Scula' or 'of Scealc' (both names in Onom.).

Shenmore (Hadley).

The first element may be O.E. scearn, 'dung'. But it is more probably a variant of Swinmoor, which is hard by.

*Shernhurst [?].

For second element see Appendix.

Shireglatt (Canon Pyon).

Shirley (Aymestrey).

Probably O.E. scir leah, 'shire meadow', i.e. meadow on the boundary. Shirley (Derbs.) is also Dom. Sirelei. Shirburn (Oxfs.) and Shearwater (Wilts.) are from O.E. adj. scir, 'bright, clear'.

Shirl Heath (Kingsland).

Shirl Wood (Kingsland).

Shobdon.

'Hill of Sceoba'.

Shop-vach (Newton-in-Clodock).

Showle Court (Yarkhill).

In 1722 Showle is one of the 'Liberties' of Wormelow. See for the others, under Lugharness.

Shucknall Hill (Weston Beggard).

O.E. scuccan-hyll, 'devil's hill'.

Shutton (Mansell Gamage).

'Tun of Scytta'. Kemble has Scyttandun and Scyttanmere.

Siddington (Ledbury).

'Tun of Sida', or 'of the sons of Sida. Cf. Sidanham (in Kemble).

Sidnal (Pencombe).

A later entry, undated, spells it Sudenhale, and yet another Suthale; and a Heref. Cath. MS. temp. Hen. I Sudenhale.

'South-meadow'. The first element is O.E. suthern. For second element see Appendix, -hall.

Sillcroft (Sollershope).

Sink Green (Dyndor).

Sizecroft (Kilpeck).

Possibly (though we have no old forms) it is equivalent to Croft-y-Saes, 'the Englishman's croft'.

The Skerrid (Kentchurch).

The W. adjec. ys-gyryd is 'rough', 'rugged'.

Skin chill (Llanrothal).

Mount Skippitt (Aconbury).

The Slade (Peterchurch; Ballingham).

There is in Goodrich in 1674 'a coppice-grove called Disp Slade'.

O.E. slaed, 'a valley'.

The Slaughter (Whitchurch).

Folk-lore, of course, says it is the site of a great battle between Britons and Romans. Possibly, like the village of Slaughter (Glos.), it is O.E. slag-treo, 'sloe-tree'.

Smallings (Donnington).

There is circ. 1270 a Smalemede in Brampton Abbotts.

Snodhill (Peterchurch).

'Hill of Snot, Snodd, or Snodda'.

Snodland (Kent) is in 838 (Birch) Snoddingland, 'land of Snodda's sons'. Nottingham is Dom. Snotingeham, 'ham of Snodda's sons'.

Snogsash (Foy).

Sodgeley (Kingsland).

Sollershope.

The family of Solers or de Solariis held lands in Herefs., Glos., and Salop early in 14th century. In Herefordshire we have Bridge Sollers (q.v.), Hopton Solers, Solers Dilwyn; and, in Salop, Neen Sollars.

Sough (Upper and Lower, Stoke Lacy).

M.E. sough, 'a drain'; now pronounced suf, but formerly the guttural was sounded, hence Sugwas. But the suf- form is also early, as in Sufton, and perhaps Suffield.

*Southbridge [Hereford].

Southington (Bromyard).

Spond (Upper and Lower, Eardisley).

Spout (St Devereux).

There is also Little Spout House in Orleton: and in 1832 a marriage settlement mentions 'Spout piece in Ganerew'.

Stagbatch (Leominster).

Stanage (Brampton Brian).

The second element is O.E. ecg, 'an edge', 'Stone edge'. Cf. Cressage (Shrops.). There is in 1223 a 'terra de hadenegge' in Brinsop.

*Stane [lies next to (juxta jacet) Didley].

Stanford Bishop.

Stanford Regis (Bishop's Frome).

'Stone-ford'; i.e. paved; or perhaps provided with stepping- stones for foot-passengers.

Stanhope (Eardisland).

'Valley of stones'. For second element see Appendix.

*Stanihursta [Ewyas Harold].

So in 1206, in Cart.

'Stony wood'. For second element see Appendix.

The Stank (Hampton Bishop).

Cf. (in E. H. Cart.) 'amunder le estanke del molyn'. Hampton Bishop Stank was the subject of a lawsuit by the Bishop against the tenant in 1637 for repairs to the Dam. Circ. 1250 a Reginald de Stanklak is mentioned in an Ep. Reg.

Stansbatch (Staunton-on-Arrow).

'Valley of stones'. For second element see Appendix, -bache.

Stanway (Leintwardine).

'Stone-way', 'road paved with stones'. (Leintwardine is on the Roman road from Wroxeter to Caerleon.)

*Stapel [Dom. Hundred].

Stapleton (Presteign).

The old forms suggest O.E. stypel, stepel, or stipel, 'a steeple, tower'. It may, however, be O.E. stapol, 'a pole, post'. Stapleton (Lancs.) is Dom. Stopel-, and no forms in Stepel- are found. Shrops. Stepple is Dom. Steple.

Staunton-on-Arrow.

Staunton-on-Wye.

Staunton-on-Arrow Staunton-on-Wye

The strange persistence of the -don forms in Staunton-on-Wye suggests a difference of origin. But there is no hill, stone- or otherwise, in the parish. Both names are probably O.E. stan tun, 'stone-built tun'. There are more than twenty Stantons in England, and seven Stauntons. In these the u shows Norman influence.

Steens Bridge (on Humber Brook).

Steens Brook (trib. of Leadon in Castle Frome).

Stensley (Peterchurch).

'The Stensley' in 1810.

There is an O.E. word stenys, 'stone-quarries', which may be the first element.

The Steps (Little Cowarne).

Cwm Steps (Crasswall).

Steps House (Ullingswick).

Stiches (Eardisland).

Stifford's Bridge (Cradley).

*Stintmill [Hereford].

The Stobell [Little Dewchurch].

Colley Stocken (Orleton).

Stocken Farm (Lucton).

Stocking (Much Marcie, Willey).

No date Le Stockynge, Leom. Cart.

There is nothing to show to which place these entries refer. 'Stoking' seems to have been a generic term for any land stocked or ridded. In a 12th century Brecon Charter an agreement is made 'de duabus acris...et de bissupestoking...et de stoking juxta finchesleye' (in Talgarth).

Stockley (Staunton-on-Arrow).

Stockley Hill (Tyberton).

Stocks (Almeley).

There is another Stocks in Avenbury, and a Stocks Lane. Stockmoor is in Dilwyn.

Stockton (Kimbolton).

O.E. stoc, 'a stake'. Tun with stocks or stakes around it'.

Stockwell (Allensmore).

Stoke Bliss.

There is a Bliss Hall in Staunton-on-Wye, which in Leom. Cart. is Villa de Bleez. A family of Bliss or Blez held this Stok in the 13th century.

Stoke Edith.

O.E. stoc, 'a stake'; then, says Bosworth, 'a staked-in, fenced place'. But Skeat thinks perhaps a log-hut. There are 63 Stokes in Dom., 31 written Stoche, and 32 Stoches.

Tradition says this Stoke takes its name from 'Saint Edith', but, as there are several Saints of that name, tradition cannot choose between them. Dom. says it belonged to Queen Edith, the widow of the Confessor.

Stoke Lacy.

The Lacies were the chief holders of Herefordshire lands in the 11th century, their possessions filling more than five columns in Dom. Apparently they had not obtained Stoke in 1086.

Stoke Prior.

The Prior is of Leominster Priory.

Stormer Hall (Leintwardine).

Stormy Castle (Small Holding in Crasswall).

So in 1831 Ord. Map. But the 'Castle' seems to have been invented by 18th century antiquarians.

Storridge.

Stowe (Whitney-on-Wye).

See Appendix, -stow.

Stradel or Straddle.

The whole of what is now the Golden Valley was once called Straddle. But now the name only survives in the farm of Monnington Stradel, and Stradel Bridge, both in Vowchurch. Prof. Lloyd thinks Stradel may be a corruption of some form of Ystrad-Dour, 'valley of the (river) Dore'. But Eg. Phil. says the Dom. forms 'seem to make this nearly impossible'.

There is an inexplicable entry in Bishop Swinfield's Register 1294, 'apud Straddele in Blakemonstone'. For Blakemonstone (now Blackmarston, q.v.) is a suburb of Hereford.

Stradway (Orcop).

But for a well-founded distrust of hybrids, one would be tempted to say Welsh ystrad (Lat. strata) and O.E. weg. The first element is perhaps O.E. straede, 'a stride'.

Strangford (Sellack).

Street (hamlet, Kingsland).

King Street Farm in Ewyas Harold was so called before 1300. A farm in Allensmore is called Woodstreet and another in Withington is called Duck Street.

Stretford (Hundred).

Stretford.

O.E. straet-ford, 'ford where the Roman road crosses a stream'.

Stretton Grandison.

'Tun on the Roman road'. The village lies at the point where the Roman road which runs eastward from Kenchester (passing through Stretton Sugwas) comes to an apparent end. Many Roman remains have been found from time to time in the village.

William de Grandison, a Burgundian from Neuchatel, obtained a grant of land in Herefordshire from Edward I.

Stretton Sugwas. Circ. 1200 we find a 'Decanus de Strettina' (Brec. Cart.) mentioned with Burghill and Brinsop.

In 1395 the road from Burghill to Stretton was called Stretoneswey.

Strickstenning (Much Birch).

So circa 1650. There is a Strekynge in or near Birch in 1538.

Strongwood (Knill).

A -wardine ending, which, after changing to -ford, has now become -wood. The Dom. form of the first element seems to be a mistake of the scribe.

Studley (Linton).

No old forms. Prob. (like Studley (Oxfs.), of which all the old forms are Stodleye) O.E. stod-leah, 'the meadow of the stud (of horses)'.

Suffield (Canon Frome).

The first element is prob. as in Sufton.

Sufton (Mordiford).

O.E. sough, 'a drain'.

Cf. Sough (q.v.) and Soughton (Flints.).

Sugwas.

For first element see Sough, and for second element see Rotherwas.

*Suite.

We find references to 'a parcel of land called Crooked Poplands Sute' in Hentland in 1638; 'the Suite lands in Chappell Field' in Goodrich in 1693; and 'Blacknorles Sute' in Peterstow in 1693.

*Sulcet [Dom. Hundred].

*Summergild [near Leominster].

The first element is O.E. sumer, 'summer': the second seems to be O.E. gild, 'a payment' or 'a guild'. What the two combined in a place-name mean is uncertain. Prof. Skeat on Guilden Morden (Cambs.) says: 'As to what it means I can only give a guess. The form would accurately represent the O.E. gyltena, gen. plur. of gylda, "a guild brother". So Guilden Morden would be "the Morden of the guild-brothers". But this requires confirmation by the help of historical research'.

Sutton.

The Frene family acquired Sutton in 1290, and held it for about a century.

Swainshill (Stretton Sugwas).

No old forms. But first element is prob. as in Swanston (q.v.).

Swanston (Dilwyn).

'Tun of the swain'. The first element is O.E. swan, 'a swain, herdsman'.

Cf. Swainsthorpe (Norf.), Swainset (Lancs.).

Swinmoor (Madley).

There is a Swinmore also in Bosbury.

See Moccas; and cf. Swinbrook (Oxfs.), Swindon (Wilts.).

*Sybcombe [in or near Clifford].

*Syfervast [Cowarne].

Said to be the old name of Cowarne Court, but there is no documentary evidence of this beyond the statements of 18th century antiquarians.

Symond's Yat.

'Opening, pass, gate of Sigemund or Simund'. Cf. Yatton, Gate Farm, Lydiates. In St Briavels (Glos.) is Wye-gate, which in Dom. is Wigheiete, and in 1337 Wyett.

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