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.

Burrell's Cottage and Burrell's Wood

Early-attested site in the Parish of Petworth

Historical Forms

  • Berewell a.1245 BM 1261 Ass c.1280 Perc 1296,1327 SR

Etymology

There can be little doubt that these names are connected, though the phonetic development is irregular. The name perhaps means 'barley-stream,' i.e. stream by which barley grows, but where the site was we do not know. Possibly it has no actual topographical connexion with the two places named, for there was a family of this name in the neighbourhood (v. Perc 393, 407.409).