Survey of English Place-Names

Etymology

Haweshill, cf. Halsescroft 1254 Cl, Halsushurst 1288PubLib (Bray ), Halseleshull , Halseshull , Halsieshurst , Halseshurst , Halseslan (e )1316 Fine, Halseshull , Halseslane 1324 Ipm, Halsishull , Halsehull , Halsel (l )ane , Halsesburgh 1325 Cl, Halsehille 1449 AD, Halsescroft 1364Windsor . The first el. of these names appears to be a place-name *Hals , from OE  h(e)als 'neck', used in p.ns. to mean 'ridge, narrow neck of land'. To the gen. of this have been added croft, hyll , hyrst , burh and lane , the last el. (which is rare, except in street-names) having presumably its usual sense of 'narrow road'. A greater and lesser Halseslane are mentioned in the references of 1316 and 1324.