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.

Widford

Major Settlement in the Parish of Widford

Historical Forms

  • Witford 1202 Civil 1216 ClR 1247 FF
  • Whytford 1248 Ass
  • Wiliford 1254 Ass
  • Wydiford 1254 Ass 1295 FF
  • Wydeford 1274,1280 Ct 1346 FA
  • Wediford 1274 RH
  • Wideford 1281 Pat 1303 FA
  • Wydford 1428 FA

Etymology

'Withy ford,' v. wiþig , ford . Explained by Morant (ii, 59) as “the wide ford,” but “the ford is not particularly wide…to this day there are willows growing close beside it” (Christy in Essex Naturalist xxi, 293). If the l in Wiliford is not an error for t or d , we have a substitution of OE  wylig , 'willow.' For Wid, R. v. supra 13.

Places in the same Parish

Early-attested site