Survey of English Place-Names

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.