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.

Blood-Way Coppice

Other OS name in the Parish of Tarrant Gunville

Historical Forms

  • una copicia apud Fludway 1541 Glyn
  • Blindway 1618 Map
  • Fludice Coppice & Fludice Fd 1839 TA

Etymology

, 1869 Hutch3 , una copicia apud Fludway 1541Glyn , Blindway (a coppice) 1618Map , Fludice Coppice & Fludice Fd 1839TA . The two earlier names ( perhaps denoting two different ways since several tracks meet here ) mean ' way liable to be flooded ' , v. flōd , weg , and ' waythat leads nowhere ' , v. blind ; Fludice no doubt represents a reduced gen . sg . form Fludway 's . The modern Blood - way may be partly the result of confusion with the next name , partly the result of popular etymology : Hutch 3 ( 3 412 ) reports that this place and the adjacent Bloody Shard Gate were by tradition scenes of battles between keepers of Cranborne Chase and deer - stealers , and an alteration of Flood - to Blood - may have been further encouraged by a misinterpretation of the neighbouring Gore Coppice in Farnham par . supra as containing gore ' blood ' .