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.

Weald (Upper, Middle and Lower)

Early-attested site in the Parish of Calverton

Historical Forms

  • Wald(e) 1199 Abbr 1241 Ass 13th ADiv 1324 Cl
  • Waude 1241 Ass 1324 Cl
  • la Welde 1291 Ch 1329 Cl
  • atte Welde 1353 Cl
  • the Weild 1626 Vern
  • Weale 1766 J c.1825 O 1826 B

Etymology

'Forest-land' v. weald . By position it must have been included in Whaddon Chase, forming an integral part of it, on the escarpment descending to the valley of the Ouse (Harman).The southern form weld from OE  weald has ousted the earlier wald , which may be either the Anglian form which developed to wold or OE  weald with the short diphthong preserved (Introd. xxiii). Upper Weald is called Over Weald in all the early maps.

Places in the same Parish

Early-attested site

Major Settlement