Sunnedon
Early-attested site in the Parish of Great Coggeshall
Historical Forms
- Sunedune c.1163 AD
- Sunnedon c.1224 Beaumont
- Sunnigdon 1246 FF
- Soningdon Church 1324 MinAcct
- Sonydon 1362 FF
- Neale c.1664 Beaumont
Etymology
Sunnedon (6″) is Sunedune c. 1163AD , Sunnedon c. 1224 Beaumont, Sunnigdon 1246 FF, Soningdon Church 1324MinAcct , Sonydon 1362FF . The forms are too few for any certain interpretation. The earliest forms make ME sunni , 'sunny,' unlikely if not impossible. Derivation from the pers. name Sunna found in Sunbury (Mx), Sonning, Sunninghill, Sunningwell (Berks) is possible. According to Beaumont, the estate now known as Sunnedon was formerly called Windloves or Neales and Ladywoods (John Windlove 1481, K. Neale c. 1664 Beaumont 123, 190), but the name seems to have been used, occasionally at least, as an alternative for Coggeshall. Cf. the reference to the church supra and Coggeshall alias Sunny Bank (op. cit. 13).