Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Crewode c.1240 Tab 1287 Court

• Crewood 1344 Orm2 19

• the Lower House… in Crewoode, the hall of Crewood 1619 Orm2

• Crewood Common 1778 EnclA 1842 OS

• Crewood Hall 1842 ib

• Crewd Hall 1724 NotCestr

• Cruwode 1346 BPR 1549 ChCert

• (wood called) Cruwewode 1353 ChFor

• Crew Wood 1398,1402 ChRR 1635 Orm2 1671 Sheaf

• Crewe Wood Common & Crewe Wood Hall 1831 Bry

• Crown-wood 1651 Orm2

• Creewood or Crew-wood Hall 1845 ChetOSVIII

Etymology

An Anglo-Welsh hybrid p.n., from OE  wudu 'a wood', with either Welsh cryw (PrWelsh  *crïu) 'a basket, a (wicker-work) fish-weir', as in Crewe 9supra , 326 infra , or the el. which lies behind ModEdial. crew 'a hovel, a sty, a cote', described in EPN 1 s.v. creu Welsh, corrected in JEPN 1 45 to '*crou PrWelsh, PrCorn, PrCumb, crau Welsh, crow Corn' although NED s.v. crew 2 cites 'earlier Welsh creu , crau '. Crewood means 'wood where basket-materials were obtained or where wicker-work was made', or 'wood where a pen, hut or hovel stood', for the place is not close to a fishing-stream.