Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Calvrestot, Celrestius (sic) 1086 DB

• Soluestrode c.1200 FM

• Scholuestrode 1257 FF

• Seluestrode 1209 FF

• S(c)heluestrod(e) 1268–74 Lewes 1332 SR

• Sholstrode t.Ed6 HMC

• Sholvestrode al. Showlestrode 1619 FF

Etymology

OE  scylf -strōd , 'marshy ground by the slope,' v. scylf , strod .The natural development was to Sho (w )lstrode ; then it would appear that since shovel is pronounced [ʃuˑl] in the Sussex dialect, some purist thought that the initial Shol - must be a corruption of earlier Shovel -, hence the modern form, which is an inverted spelling. No trace of the old pronunciation seems to have survived locally.