Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Windestorte 1086 DB

• Windesteort 1225 FF

• terram de Wdestert 1199 CartAnt

• terram de Wudestort 1234 HarlCh 13

• Wodestort 1234 Ch 1279

• Wodestert(e) 1280 1285 FA 1319 FF 1331 Pat

• ten' apud Wodestertesleyen 1423 Weld1

• Woodsterte 1535 VE

• Wodester 1280 Weld1 1706

• Wodestret(e) 1279 Ch 1280 Weld1 1706 Tax 1291 Orig 1304

• Woodstreet 1568 Hutch3

• 'grange of Woodstreet' 1582 ib

• Woodstreet Farme 1703 Weld1 1811 OS

• Woodstreat 1774 Hutch1

• Woodstrett 1774 1861 Hutch3

• Woodstrete als. Woodstert 1588 Comm

• (Firme de) Woodsteed, Woodsteed Firma 1638 Weld1

• Woodsted Farme l17 ib

Etymology

If the DB and 1225 spellings were to be relied upon, this would be 'windy tongue of land', or 'tongue of land near a winding path or stream', from wind1 or (ge)wind2 and steort , with leyne 'arable strip'; the farm is situated on a narrow strip of cultivated land between areas of woodland and at the head of a small stream which flows through this strip to R. Frome. However, all the other spellings show that the first el. was at an early date taken to be wudu 'wood', and it is possible that the two spellings in Winde - are errors for Wiude - or Wuide - where wudu may show influence from its early OE variant widu , cf. Woodbury Hill in Bere R. par. infra for a similar eME form.The second el. has undergone metathesis of r , which would make it indistinguishable from ME  strete < OE  strǣt 'street', and the forms in -ste (e )d show confusion with stede 'place'. The grange here probably belonged to Bindon Abbey supra . For a possible allusion to the early medieval ownership of Woodstreet, v. the f.n. Bakerland infra .