Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Altewode, Altewude 1241 Ass

• Altewode 1258 Cl Hy3 RentSur 1316 Fine 1327–8 SR 1341 NonInq

• Altewod' 1265 Cl

• Altwood 1573 SpecCom

• Altridings 1620 ArchJ

• Altriding alias Altwoodriding 1639 ArchJ

Etymology

Altwood Bailey, Altwood Ho, Altewode , Altewude 1241Ass (p), Altewode 1258 Cl, Hy 3RentSur , 1316 Fine, 1327–8SR (p), 1341 NonInq (p), Altewod '1265 Cl, Altwood 1573SpecCom . The second el. is wudu .Altmore in White Waltham, for which no early forms have been found, may contain the same first el., in which case this was originally the name of an area. The places are roughly a mile apart. Alt La is derived by Ekwall (La 29) from Celtic *alto - 'hill', the source of Welsh  allt 'hill-side, hill, cliff, woodland'. Altwood and Altmore are on the slope of a gentle hill, but allt would only be used of a striking geographical feature. It is perhaps just possible that the ridge of high ground which runs from Remenham and Wargrave on the west to Cookham and Maidenhead on the east had this name, but that it only survives in names of places on the S.E. edge of the area.There may be another trace of the name in a f.n. in Hurley (adjacent to White Waltham), for which the forms are Altesora Ed I, Altesore 1346, Alteshore 1360 all Hurley. This appears to have ōra 'slope', added to the genitive of an earlier name. (Cf. Cruchfield 44–5 for this type of formation.) There was also a field called Altridings (1620 ArchJ 24) in Ockwells, a part of Bray adjacent to Maidenhead and White Waltham. This is Altriding alias Altwoodriding 1639 ArchJ 24, so may be only another occurrence of Altwood.