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.

Galsworthy

Early-attested site in the Parish of Buckland Brewer

Historical Forms

  • Galeshora 1086 DB
  • Galles(h)oure 1238 Ass
  • Galeshore 1244,1249 Ass 1330 SR
  • Galsore 1339 Ass
  • Gallissore 1422 IpmR
  • South Galesworthy 1616 FF
  • Gallesworth al. Galsworthy 1618 Depositions

Etymology

Galsworthy is on the highest ground in the neighbourhood and there is no stream here, so Blomé's river-name solution (35) will not hold good. It is probably the Celtic name Gall of which we have the diminutive Galloc in Galsham supra 73. The ora must refer here to the slope of the hillside. The pronunciation locally must have been Galzery with common preservation of syllabic inflexion and then, since so many names like Woolfardisworthy are pronounced with final -zery for original -isworthy , the name seems to have been re-spelled and in its turn gave rise to a spelling pronunciation [gɔˑlzwəˑði].