Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• (capella de) Fres, Fries c.1200 Os

• Fres c.1220 Os late13th Os

• Frees 1389 Os

• Frice 1509–10 Os

• Friece Fm 1822 Os

• Old Frice 1797 Davis

• ponte de Fres 1271 Os

Etymology

Frieze Fm (6″) takes name from (capella de ) Fres , Fries c. 1200 Os, Fres c. 1220 Oset freq to late 13th Os, Frees 1389 Os, Frice 1509–10 Os, Friece Fm 1822 Os. Minnis Fm in Yarnton is called Old Frice 1797 Davis. According to Os iv, 105, the name belonged originally to a wayside chapel in Yarnton parish founded by a bridge hermit: there is a ponte de Fres 1271 Os. The chapel is not mentioned in Valor Ecclesiasticus , and Wood could find no trace of it. Adam Fres and Alice Frees are mentioned c. 1270 (c. 1450) and 1275 (c. 1450) Godstow as landowners in St Giles Parish, Oxford, which is very close. It is impossible to say whether the family gave name to the place or vice versa.