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.

Ashchurch

Major Settlement in the Parish of Ashchurch

Historical Forms

  • Asschirche 1287 Ass
  • Aschurch 1487 MinAcct
  • Assechurche 1555 FF
  • Aysschirche, Aysschurch 1314,1349 Ipm
  • Aischurch 1584 Comm
  • Aishchurch 1673 PR
  • As(s)hechurch(e), Ashchurch(e) 1492 MinAcct 1619 Dep

Etymology

'Church near the ash-tree', v. æsc , cirice . The church is first mentioned c. 1145 as capella de Estchirche (Archaeol. Assoc. Journal xxxi, 289), but three of the four tithings of the manor, Aston on Carrant, Fiddington, and Pamington, are named in DB. There was no nucleated village of Ashchurch; the site was that of the isolated parish church. Ashtrees are referred to in certain local f.ns. (55 infra ).