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.

Hartford End

Early-attested site in the Parish of Felsted

Historical Forms

  • molendinum de hereford 12th Caen
  • Herteford 1329 Londin
  • Hertefordbregge a.1399 ERxiii
  • Hertfordehende, Herthende 1367 Rental

Etymology

Hartford End is molendinum de hereford 12thCaen , Herteford 1329 Londin, Hertefordbregge a. 1399 ER xiii, Hertfordehende , Herthende 1367Rental . 'Hart-ford,' v. heorot , ford . The Caen form is scarcely to be trusted. The name was particularly apt “when the deer ranged from South Essex through woodland, almost continuous, to Blackholley Wood (Blackley's supra 421–2), abutting on the Stane Street at Rayne. This was their only crossing in that line of travelling. This was not a Roman ford and beyond being a ford for deer it for long served no other purpose” (French ).