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.

Fleet

Major Settlement in the Parish of Fleet

Historical Forms

  • Flete 1086 DB 1212 Fees 1227 FF 1235–6 Fees 1244 Salis 1428 FA
  • Fleta 1086 Exon 1227 ChrP 1372 1280
  • Flethe m13 Salis
  • Flote 1086 DB, Exon
  • Floeta c.1160 QuarrCh
  • Fleota 1213 1215 ChrP 1372
  • Fleote e13(1372),1270(1372),1367(1372) ChrP
  • Flicta 1157 Sarum
  • Fluetu 1160–82 QuarrCh
  • Fluta l12 Salis
  • Flute 1227 FF
  • Fleet(e) 1646 SC 1653 ParlSurv

Etymology

From OE  flēot 'estuary, inlet, creek', with reference to the long channel (still called East and West Fleet) between Chesil Beach and the mainland, see foll.