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.

Bishops Hall, Bishops Moat

Early-attested site in the Parish of Lambourne

Historical Forms

  • Norwich maner vocat' Sheppeshalle 1383 IpmR

Etymology

Bishops Hall, Bishops Moat. This is said to have been the house of a manor which belonged to the Bishop of Norwich. The earliest mention of the Bishop's land noted so far is in 1334 (Cl, Misc).The only name of the manor hitherto met with is Norwich maner vocat ' Sheppeshalle (1383 IpmR). The use of Norwich may have been a deliberate avoidance of Bishop 's , for a family of that name had land in the immediate neighbourhood. Roger Byssop gave land to the Prior of Dunmow (1273 FF) and Edward Bisshop to the Knights Hospitallers (13thStJohn ). Both were near this hall, and the gifts are perpetuated in the names Priors and St John's infra . The hall was probably named from this family, but we cannot be certain.

Places in the same Parish