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.

Tresham

Early-attested site in the Parish of Hawkesbury

Historical Forms

  • Tresham 972 BCS1282 10th Ass 1248 FF 1293 Surv Ed3 SR 1327 Dep 1598
  • Tressam 1549,1600 FF 1701 PR

Etymology

Tresham, Tresham 972 (10th) BCS 1282, 1248Ass , 1293FF , Ed 3Surv , 1327 SRet passim to 1598Dep , Tressam 1549, 1600FF , 1701 PR 10. The first el. is obscure, but we could assume an OE  *træs or *tres connected with Norw  tras 'twig, sprout', Icel  tros 'fallen leaves and twigs', to which ME  trasche 'broken twigs, cuttings' (as in Trashurst Sr 273) and OE  trus or trūs 'brushwood, hedge- croppings' may be related (cf. NED s.v. trash , trouse ). The name would denote something like 'homestead amongst the brushwood', v. hām . It may be added that the absence of a stream rules out any connexion with the root of the r.n. Trysull (Welsh  tres 'toil, labour', RN 412).