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.

Sackwath

Early-attested site in the Parish of Bampton

Historical Forms

  • Sackwatmire 1294 Lowth
  • le Sackewathe a.1296 ib
  • Sakewath 1488 ib
  • Saketwath 1505 Clib
  • Sackwath (head) 1710 PR 1839 TA

Etymology

Sackwath (lost), Sackwatmire 1294Lowth , Sakwath 1295 le Sackewathe a. 1296 ib, Sakewath 1488 ib, Saketwath 1505 Clib, Sackwath (head )1710 PR, 1839TA . The first el. could be an OWScand word sǫkk represented by Icel  sökk ,Norw  dial sokk 'hollow, pit', an assimilated form of the stem sank - 'sink' as in Swed sank 'swampy, watery' or the Norw r.ns. Sanka (NElv 207–8); for related words (like English sink , etc.) cf. Jóhannesson 785. 'Ford in the hollow or swampy place', v. vað . The TA map locates the place at grid 83–515193 by the side of the Lowther where there is now a foot-bridge.

Places in the same Parish