Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Hynewode 1165–75 Lyell c.1350 1316 l.14th ib

• Hinewode l.12th c.1350 ib

• Hynewood 16th ib

Etymology

Hen Wood, Hynewode 1165–75 (c. 1350) Lyell , 1316 (l. 14th) ib , Hinewode l. 12th (c. 1350) ib , Hynewood 16thib , 'wood of the monastic community', v. hīwan , wudu . This may be wrohthangran , mentioned 956 (c. 1200) BCS 932, in the bounds of Wootton and Sunningwell (v. Pt 3), which means 'debated wood on a slope', v. wroht , hangra . If the ownership had been in dispute, the name Hen Wood acquires some significance; it is otherwise difficult to explain since it occurs in an area where all the land belonged to Abingdon in the period before the Norman Conquest.