Hurst Green
Early-attested site in the Parish of Brightlingsea
Historical Forms
- Hearse Green 1777 C c.1840 TA 1881 O.S.
Etymology
Hurst Green [ðə həˑst, həˑs] is Hearste End 1539, le long hearse 1673 Dickin, Hearse Green 1777 C, c. 1840 TA, 1881 O.S. This may be simply hyrst , 'wood,' with loss of the final t . The forms are late, however, and the name may, as Dickin (167) has suggested, be from OFr , ME herse , originally 'harrow' and later “a triangular frame like an ancient harrow used to carry candles.”The Green is triangular in shape and may have been named from its resemblance to an ancient harrow or herse . Cf. “the archers ther stode in maner of a herse ,” i.e. drawn up in a triangular formation (Berners' Froissart , cxxx, as quoted by Skeat s. v .).NED gives the form herst (1526).