Wrest (Park)
Early-attested site in the Parish of Silsoe
Historical Forms
- Wrest 1185 P 1421,1430 IpmR
- Wrast(e) 1276 RH 1308,1324 Ipm 1329 Cl 1331 QW 1342 Cl 1354 Ipm 1388 Cl 1389 IpmR 1396 Cl 1413 IpmR 1610 Speed
- Wrast or Rest c.1750 Bowen
Etymology
This name is difficult. OE wrǣste , 'delicate, noble,' which may form the base of the pers. name found in Wrestlingworth supra 112, seems unlikely here and Professor Ekwall suggests some other derivative of the stem of OE wrīðan , 'to twist.'Norw has (v )reist , 'ring made of withies.' An OE wrǣst , 'something twisted,' may have existed, possibly in such a sense as 'thicket.' ON (v )reistr is used of Midgarðsormr and an element vrēst may occur in Swed names of lakes (Hellquist, Studien över de Svenska Sjönamnen , 728). It maybe added that the ground round Wrest is much broken, and 'twisted, contorted ' might be apt in a purely topographical sense.