Survey of English Place-Names

Etymology

Berins Hill and Berinshill Wood. Cf. Byrons Hill 1657Bodl , Little Perins Heath 1672Bodl , Berrens Hill , Berrens Hill Wood c. 1840TA . In view of the fact that human remains have been found in the immediate vicinity, it is possible that this is another occurrence of the plural of byrgen , 'burial place,' which has given the name of Berrings Wood in Glympton 265. There is a widespread belief that the hill is named from Birinus, the 7th-century missionary and first bishop of the West Saxons, but the evidence is quite inadequate to support this theory.