English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Hurst

Major Settlement in the Parish of St Nicholas Hurst

Historical Forms

  • Herst 1220 RSO 13th Cl 1254
  • Hurst(e) 1224–5 Ass
  • La Hurste 1242 Fees 1375–6 ObAcc
  • La Hurst 1316 FA
  • capella de Herst, de sancto Nicholao in 1220 (RSO)

Etymology

v. hyrst 'wooded hill'. There was a chapel of St Nicholas here, built in the late 11th cent. and referred to as capella de Herst , de sancto Nicholao in 1220 (RSO). The present church is dedicated to St Nicholas. For a detailed description of the chapel as it was in the 13th cent., v. RSO i, pp. 280–1.