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.

Mystecombe

Early-attested site in the Parish of Portisham

Historical Forms

  • Mystecombe 1811 OS
  • Mystecomb 1774 Hutch1(1556)
  • Mystercom(b) (sic) 1476 ib
  • Mystcombe 1795 Boswell

Etymology

Mystecombe (lost, about SY 615868), Mystecombe 1811 OS, Mystecomb 1774 Hutch1 (1556), Mystercom (b ) (sic)1476 ib, Hutch3 (2 766), Mystcombe 1795 Boswell, a marked valley about 1 mile NE of Portisham, 'misty coomb' from mist and cumb . According to Hutch1 (1 556) 'on the E side [of Mystecomb ] are some pits, where the hundred courts were formerly held, and hundred silver paid. This is probably the ancient Uggescomb ', and Boswell (p. 26) notes that Uggscombe lies 'in a valley called Mystcombe ; from whence the hundred takes its name', v. Uggscombe infra , Uggescombe hundred supra .