Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Clopecote 1086 DB

• Clopcote c.1180 Bodl c.1444 BC

• Clopecota 1235–48 Frid c.1425

• Clappecot' 1241 Ass

• Clopton', Clopecote 1284 ib

• Cloppecote 1305 Fine

Etymology

Clapcot, Clopecote 1086 DB, Clopcote c. 1180Bodl et passim with variant spellings Clopkota , Clopcothe , Clopcota , Clopcot ', Clopkote to c. 1444 BC, Clopecota 1235–48 (c. 1425) Frid, Clappecot '1241Ass , Clopton ', Clopecote 1284ib , Cloppecote 1305 Fine. The second el. is cot(e). This name is included in DEPN in the article on names in Clap -, Clop -, which have an unrecorded OE  clopp(a) 'hill' as first el., v. clop(p), cloppa . It was suggested in YE xlvi that the topography precludes the association of the Berks place with the other places listed in DEPN. It is not possible, however, to ascertain the exact site of the hamlet; the name is mentioned in VCH iii, 517, as that of a liberty in the parish of All Hallows, and it appears on the 6″ maps and in Kelly's Directory as the name of a small parish north of Wallingford, which on the Index Map of Civil Parishes is shown as part of Sotwell. The original group of cottages was probably near Wallingford Castle, and there may have been some feature of the topography, obscured by the making of the castle, which caused the place to be named 'cottages by the hill'. A Clapcotehulle is mentioned c. 1340 ChCh.