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.

Codswell

Early-attested site in the Parish of Cutsdean

Historical Forms

  • aet Codesuuellan 780 BCS236 11th
  • Codeswellan 855 BCS490
  • Codeswelle 840 11th ib

Etymology

Codswell (lost), aet Codesuuellan 780 (11th) BCS 236, Codeswellan 855 BCS 490, Codeswelle 840 (11th) ib 430, lay between Gytingbroc (R. Windrush) on the west and an unidentified ford called Geolwaford on the east (in BCS 236 the description is clearly misplaced); the property was 'on the hill which the inhabitants called mons Huuicciorum (the hill of the Hwicce )'; the unidentified ford occurs also as on , of geolowon forda in the bounds of Cutsdean (974 BCS 1299) and appears to be a crossing of the Dikler at the east end of Cutsdean parish (grid 144–146302); 'the hill of the Hwicce ' would therefore be Cutsdean Hill. The first el. is the OE  pers.n. Cōd as in Cutsdean (supra ), and the second is OE  wella 'well, spring', v. Addenda.

Places in the same Parish