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.

Prestby

Early-attested site in the Parish of Whitby

Historical Forms

  • Prestebi, Presteby 1086 DB 1345 Whitby

Etymology

'Priests' farm' v. preost , by . Cf. Norw  Præstby (Rygh, NG i. 66). SD and the Memorial of the Foundation of Whitby Abbey (Whitby Cartulary, p. 1) both say that Prestebi was the old name of Whitby. But the above references and spellings show that the name was in use in the 12th cent., contemporaneously with Whitby, and certainly not to refer to the same area as Witebi .