Holliwick St
Early-attested site in the Parish of Dunstable
Historical Forms
- le Hallewick 13th ADi
- le Hallewyke 1317 ADi 1339 ADvi
Etymology
This lost street ran parallel to West Street on its southern side and the VCH (iii. 350) gives a 17th cent. form Holliwick . This would point to OE haligwic , 'holy wic ,' perhaps so called because the farm from which it took its name was monastic property, though we have no knowledge of such possession. One would have expected however ME forms with a single l if this were the history of the name. Cf. Halwic , Haliwyk for Holywick (PN Bk 179). One might, with Professor Ekwall, take this to be OE heallwic, i.e. 'the dairy-farm belonging to a hall,' but this leaves the modern form unexplained.