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.

Gamsey Wood

Early-attested site in the Parish of Wood Walton

Historical Forms

  • silva q. voc. Garbodeseye 1279 RH
  • Germeshey Wood 1566 BM

Etymology

This is clearly a (ge)hæg or enclosure in a woodland district, but who its owner was is not clear. Our choice lies between taking the 13th cent. form as correct with a quite irregular development of Garbod to Garmod , or to believe that the 13th cent. form is a bad one for Garmod . Probably the latter is the correct solution of the name. The pers. name Gārmōd is not actually on record but is a perfectly regular formation. Gārbod is unknown, but we have Gerbodo in Domesday. This is a name of continental origin (cf. Forssner 106–7), and Gar - might be explained as a partial anglicising of the name.

Places in the same Parish

Major Settlement

Early-attested site