Husborne Crawley
Major Settlement in the Parish of Husborne Crawley
Historical Forms
- Hysseburnan 969 BCS1229
- Husseburn(e) c.1200 Dunst 13th LS 1220 Ass 1227,1247 FF 1249 KF E1 Cl 1274
- Hesseburn 1220 Dunst 13th
- Hisseburn c.1220 WellsL
- Husburne, Husborne 1250 FF 1428 FA
- Husseburn (et) Crawele, Husseburn Crouleye 1276 Ass
- Hussebourne 1291 NI
- Husbond Crawley 1535 VE 1548 Pat
- Husband Crauley 1552 Inv
- Husband 1615 Cai
Etymology
Husborne Crawley takes its name from the union of two distinct places called Husborne and Crawley. The stream from which Husborne takes its name has in OE a name identical with that for Hurstbourne (Ha), which is found as Hysseburnan in BCS 553. Both names have undergone later corruption and the local names of Hurstbourne Tarrant and Hurstbourne Priors— Uphusband and Downhusband—show the same colloquial pronunciation that we find in the Bedfordshire p.n. The history of this stream-name is obscure. There is an OE word hysse , more commonly hyse , used to denote a young man, a warrior, and it is just possible that Hysseburna means 'young men's stream,' but if that were the case we should have expected hyssa burna , with hysse in the gen. pl., as it seems to be found in the only other possible compound that has been noted, viz. hyssa pol in BCS 595 referring to a Wiltshire place. The fact that in both cases the word is found with a word for water suggests however that it may possibly be a plant-name. Cf. hisses quoted in B.T. Supplement (s.v. hyse ) as a gloss for pampinos . No certainty can be attained with regard to this name.