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.

Whitecombe

Early-attested site in the Parish of Stoke Wake

Historical Forms

  • claus' vocat' Whytecombe 1494 Seymer
  • claus' vocat' Wydecombe 1497 Seymer
  • Whitecomb(e) c.1750 Seymer
  • Whitcomb 1811 OS

Etymology

Whitecombe (ST 756077), claus ' vocat ' Whytecombe 1494Seymer , claus ' vocat ' Wydecombe 1497Seymer , Whitecomb (e )c. 1750Seymer , Whitcomb 1811 OS, cf. White Coom (e ) Close , White Coom (e ) Mead 1640Seymer , Gt Whitcombe , Lt Whitcombe , Whitcombe Md 1839TA , v. cumb 'valley'; without earlier spellings it cannot be certain whether the first el. was originally hwīt 'white' (cf. White Hill infra ) or wīd 'wide' (cf. Whitcombe 1259).