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.

Bayfield

Major Settlement in the Parish of Glandford with Bayfield

Historical Forms

  • Baiafelda 1086 DB
  • Baifeld 1180,1181 P 1200 Cur 1202,1203 Abbr 1333 SR
  • Bayfeld 1228 FF 1243 Fees 1254–75 Val 1269 Ass 1279to1413 FF 1302,1315,1346 FA 1330 SR 1447 Past 1468 Ch 1535 VE
  • Bayfeud 1250,1257,1286 Ass 1275 RH 1287 Ipm
  • Beufeld 1257 Ass

Etymology

From 'Bǣgan feld', the first element being the weakly inflected OE  pers.n. Bǣga , which is evidenced in toponymic contexts, for instance in on bægan wyrðe 956 (12 Sawyer 605) BCS 924.

Bayfield church is described as “parish church of a lost village” (Pevsner 85). It was dedicated to St Margaret, abandoned in the mid-17th century (EAA 51:51) and in ruins at the end of the 18th century.