Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• (eccl.) Sanctæ Mariæ de Pratis c.1190 Dugd

• St Mary de Pree 1203 Verulam

• Pree 1528 ib

• Pree Wood 1728 Sal

• le Prey(e) 1342 Ass 1569 Verulam

• monasterium Del Pray 1381 Gesta

• Pray Wode 1487 Dugd

• Prayewodde, Prayemead 1538 Rental

• St Mary de Pratis or de Pree 1522 Verulam

• The Prae 1766 ib

Etymology

These names preserve the memory of the abbey of St Mary de Pratis (i.e. 'of the meadows') or Pre founded in 1194 (VCH ii, 400). For the French Pre , v. PN Sr 158 (s. n. Pray Heath). The present-day spelling is not found before the 18th century and is evidently an attempt to give a Latin appearance to a place-name adjoining the site of the ancient Verulamium (v. supra 86–7).