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.

Cross

Early-attested site in the Parish of Bradford Abbas

Historical Forms

  • atte Cruch' 1332 SR
  • atte Crouche 1350 Add 18

Etymology

Cross (ST 587143), the remains of a medieval cross, no doubt referred to in the surname of John atte Cruch '1332 SR, John atte Crouche 1350 (18) Add , 'at the cross', v. atte , crūc 3 ; it perhaps also gave name to 'an arched stone building called the Cross' which stood at the centre of the village until the beginning of the 19th cent. (Hutch3 4122), though this may be cross in the sense 'cross-roads', cf. viam ducent uersus Evyns Crosse , viam ducent uersus Evins Crose 1563Digby , to be associated with Thomas Ewyns , Thomas Ewins ib .