Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Wrðestede 1044–7 (13 Sawyer 1055) KCD 785

• Wrdestedam, Vrdestada, Ordesteda 1086 DB

• Wrthstede t.Steph BM 1256 NCReg

• Wrthested(e) c.1140to1186–1210 Holme c.1150 Crawf e.13,c.1250(p),1301(p) HMC 1243 Fees 1250,1257,1269 Ass 1254–75 Val 1250 FF 1273 Ipm 1276 BM

• Wrdestede 1153–66 Holme

• Wrstede 1269 Ass 1275 RH 1324 Ipm

• Wrthstede 1286 Ass

• Wrdhestede l.13 BM

• Wurdesteda 1169 P

• Wurthested(e) 1206 1219 Fees 1226–36 NCReg 1256 Pat 1269 Ass 1275 RH 1299 AD

• Wurhested 1234 FF

• Wurthsted(e) 1304to1431 AD

• Wurthstedde 1310 NoD

• Wursted(e) 1256 NCReg 1320 NoD 1518 AD 1535 VE

• Wordestede 1232 FF 1286 Ass

• Worthested(e) 1250,1257 Ass 1252 Ch 1278etfreqto1335 FF 1308 Banco 1348 Cl

• Wordstede 1258 FF

• Worthsted(e) 1291 Tax 1306 Ch 1306etfreqto1386 FF 1308,1328 Banco 1315to1366 AD 1316 FA 1327to1348 Ipm 1374 Pat 1386 BM

• Worthstedde 1311 NoD

• Worsted(e) 1291 Tax 1303to1428 FA 1327 DeedNRO 1334etfreqto1477 FF 1336to1340 Ch 1337,1371,1460 AD 1372 Fine 1374,1392,1548 Pat 1375 Ipm 1426 Past 1535 VE

• Wirstede 1306 NoD

Etymology

OE  worð -stede 'site of a worð '. The original meaning of worð was probably 'enclosure', but it is held to have developed meanings such as 'homestead, farm', v. worð , stede and Sandred 1963: 107, 186. Two churches are mentioned in DB. The church of St Andrew was abandoned in the mid-16th century (EAA 51: 55). Pevsner (349) considers the church of St Mary “one of the dozen or so grandest Norfolk parish churches”. Worstead became known for the manufacture of the woollen cloth called worsted stuffs in the reign of Henry I (v. White 74, 492).