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.

Horsemill Corner

Early-attested site in the Parish of Bettiscombe

Etymology

Horsemill Corner (ST 396007), cf. Horse Mill Hill , Horse Mill Lane (Copse )1839TA , and the local surname of Roger atte Horsmull (e )1325Brid , 1340 NI (a juror in this par.). This is a ME form of eModE  horsemill 'a mill driven by a horse, usually by one walking in a circle or in a wheel' (1530 NED); the 14th-cent. forms thus antedate the earliest recorded use in NED by two centuries. Horsemill Corner is at a road junction where the road N out of the village meets the Marshwood- Broadwindsor road.