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.

Alder Carr

Early-attested site in the Parish of Hildersham

Etymology

Alder Carr (6″). Cf. The Alders 1795Map , Alder Car c. 1840TA .car (r ) is clearly the word carr denoting a marsh grown over with brushwood, a loan-word deriving ultimately from ON  kiarr. It is not found elsewhere in Cambridgeshire. It is found in Essex (PN Ess 583), but even there is very rare except in the compound Aldercar , the earliest example dating from the 15th century.