Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• (et) Hroces seaðum 845 BCS448

• Roxhe 1235 Ass

• Roxeye 1330 Cl

• Roxehay 1508 FF

• Roxsey 1524 ib

• Roxeth 1280 Pat 1321 MxRec 1680 S

• Roxheth(e) 1282 MxRec 1422 FF

• Rokeshese 1294 Ass

Etymology

'seaþof a man named Hrōc ,' i.e. 'rook,' cf. Hroc (Feilitzen 294). OE  sēaþ meant 'pit, well, lake.' This might be rendered 'rook's pit,' but such a compound is extremely unlikely and is made still more improbable by the existence of the nearby Roxborough (supra 53). The first form shows the word in the dat. pl. Here the name may have referred to the slight hollow or depression in which are springs giving rise to the river Crane (supra 2).