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.

Sefter Fm

Early-attested site in the Parish of Pagham

Historical Forms

  • Seytre 1296 Ass
  • Sester t.Jas1 LRMB

Etymology

This is the OE  seohtre , 'drain, ditch,' with reference perhaps to the present Pagham Rife. In the boundaries of Pagham (BCS 50) there is mention of hylsan seohtra , a further example of this word, and in the near neighbourhood, but the streams cannot be identical.