Bartlow
Major Settlement in the Parish of Bartlow
Historical Forms
- Berk(e)lawe 1232 FF 1485 BM
- Berk(e)lau 1352 Pat
- Berk(e)low(e) 1260 Ass 1435 FF
- Borklawe 1272 Ass
- Berclawe 1236 Barnwell 1387 Walden
- Berclowe c.1330 ElyCouch
- Bercklowe 1558 ADvi
- Bertelawe 1448 Colexxii
- Bart(e)lowe 1559 Rental 1570 SR 1576 Ely 1579 EAxiii
- Bartlowe al. Barclowe 1599 Ely
- Barlow 1724 Moll
- Bark(e)low(e) 1490 Ipm 1532 ADii
- Barcklowe 1565 Ely
Etymology
'(At) the mounds of the birch-trees,' OE (æt ) beorca -hlāwum , v. beorc , hlāw , i.e. the great Bartlow Hills tumuli which dominate the church and village. As Sir Cyril Fox notes, there is no natural hill here. For -lawe , cf. infra 330 and Tremelau (PN Wa 247). Cf. the neighbouring Bartlow End, named from this (PN Ess 507).