English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Cock Flat

Early-attested site in the Parish of Helmsley

Historical Forms

  • Kyrkflat 13 Kirkham

Etymology

'Church field' v. kirkja , flat . Probably 'land held by the church of Kirkham.' The modern form Cock is phonetically derived from ME  kyrk . The normal development of kirk in the dialect is [kɔˑk]; this is near enough acoustically to be confused with cock .