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.

Turn Head

Early-attested site in the Parish of Hemingbrough

Historical Forms

  • le Turneheved 1363,c.1394 Works

Etymology

Turn Head is le Turneheved 1363, c. 1394 Works. Cf. Turnham Hall infra 259. The name has reference to a sharp bend in the river Ouse, and may be from ME turn (OFr  *turn ) with that sense or OE  *trun , turn . Turn Head itself is on the opposite side of the Ouse from Turn Head Lodge and heafod 'head' must refer to the headland formed by this twist in the river-course, as in Howden supra 251 and Thicket infra 264.