Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• (þanen ealden herepaþe þæt schet to) blinchesfelde 932 ShaftR(S419) 15

• Blinchesfeld c.1140 Ch 1340

• Blinchesfeld(e) 13 Glyn 1244 Ass 1307 Anderson 1327 Glyn

• Blinchisfeldhdr' 1168 P

• Blinchesfeldhdr' 1168 ChancR

• terra de Blinschesfelde que est in Sturminstr' 13 GlastR

• Blynchesfeld(e) 1315 Anderson 1327 SR 1341 Salis 15 ShaftR

• Blyncheffeild' 1332 SR

• (on) blinnesfeld 958 ShaftR(S656) 15

• (capella de) Blynnesfylde 1500 Hutch3

• Blynsfeld(e) 1455 Cl 1486 KCC

• (terram…de) Blingesfelda c.1140 AddCh

• Blingesfeld 1154–8 Ch 1340

• Blinchildfeldhdr' 1169,1170 P

• Blinkefeldhundredum 1176 P

• Blinkisfeldhdr' 1176 ChancR

• Blinchefeld' 1244 Ass 1275 Cl

• Blynchefeld 1258 FF 1323(c.1407),1332(c.1407) Shaft c.1500 Eg

• Blyndefeld(') 1244 Ass 1274 FF

• Blindefeud 1244 Ass

• Blyndesfeld(') 1332 SR 1442 Ipm

• Bleinchesfeld 1268 Ass

• Blenchusfelde 1339 AddCh

• Blyntesfeild 1283 Cecil 1327 SR

• Blyntesfeld(e) 1340 NI 1360 Ipm 1404 KCC 1474 Wim

• Blintisfeld' 1332 SR

• Blintesfeld 1362 Cl

• Blintesfield 1811 OS

• Blintsfield 1841 TAMap

• Blynfelde 1550 Pat

• on blinches broc, of þanne broke 932 ShaftR(S419) 15

• 'the church of Blendfort' 1101–18 France e17

Etymology

The two earliest forms are from 15th cent. copies of 10th cent. Anglo-Saxon charters. 'The old highway that runs to blinchesfelde ' occurs in the OE bounds of Fontmell M. par. infra , the 'highway' being probably the present Sturminster N.–Shaftesbury road at Kit Hill infra 1¼ miles S of the present Blynfield Fm. (On ) blinnesfeld is from the OE bounds of Thorton in Marnhull, a small estate which seems to have extended NE beyond the present bounds of Marnhull to include much of the present par. of Margaret Marsh as well as the SE corner of Marnhull itself; (on ) blinnesfeld is likely to have denoted part of the northernmost bdy of the 10th cent. estate, which very probably followed the modern bdy of Margaret Marsh where it passes ½ mile S of the present Blynfield Fm. Another point in the Fontmell M. bounds, and clearly to be connected with these forms, is on blinches broc , of þanne broke (932 (15) ShaftR (S 419)), describing it seems the stream (a feeder of Key Brook) which forms the W bdy of Cann par. and which branches upstream just SW of Blynfield Fm.

Kökeritz 128 is probably correct in taking, the first el. of these names to be an English r.n. *Blinch (OE  *blinc ) 'the glittering river', relating it to ModE  blink , blench (OE  blencan ) and blank . Blinches broc would then be 'the stream called Blinch ' (v. brōc ), and Blynfield 'the tract of open land by the Blinch or through which the Blinch runs' (v. feld ). Cf. Anderson 139 who, while citing the same related words, prefers to interpret the postulated term as possibly meaning 'glade, opening' on the grounds that 'river-names are usually feminine' (cf. however Ekwall RN lxxxi), and adds 'after all, its genitival form may point to the first el. being a pers.n.'.

There is probably no need, with Anderson 138, 'to reckon with two Blynfields, one, the original Blynfield, in Marnhull nr Sturminster Newton, the other, the present Blynfield Fm nr Shaftesbury, a manorial name derived from the Blinchesfeld family that flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries'.The boundary points in the two charters cited can in fact be reconciled as referring to the present Blynfield, though it is indeed likely (cf. Anderson loc. cit .) that in the 10th cent. the feld still denoted a fairly extensive tract of open land rather than a precise location.

It will be noted that in the series of six 12th cent. spellings from P and ChancR, Blynfield is designated a hundred (h (un )dr (edum )). The identification of these proposed by Fägersten, that they represent an alternative (and earlier) name for Alcester Liberty, is supported by the inclusion of terram …de Blingesfelda in the foundation charter (c.1140AddCh ) of Alcester Abbey (cf. also the grant of Blynfield manor to the Abbey in 1293 Sydenham 51), and by the later inclusion of Blynfield (as well as Gore in Marg. Marsh) within the bounds of the Liberty (v. under Sixpenny Handley hundred supra ). Cf. Anderson 139, who suggests that Blinchisfeld hundred is probably an alternative (and earlier) name for Redlane hundred.

The 13th cent. form from GlastR referring to 'the piece of land of Blinschesfelde which is in Sturminstr ' is to be explained with reference to the location of the 10th cent. form (on ) blinnesfeld discussed above; the original feld clearly extended into that part of the Thorton estate which later became Margaret Marsh, and the latter was a tithing in Sturminster Newton hundred.

According to Drew, the probably corrupt form 'the church of Blendfort '1101–18 (e17) France, identified with Blandford F. in the index to France and by Fägersten 50, belongs here.Cf. capella sancti petri here in c.1140AddCh , capella de Blynnesfylde n.d. (1500) Hutch3 388, and reference to a former chapel here in Hutch1 2 35.