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.

Crooksbury Hill

Early-attested site in the Parish of Farnham

Historical Forms

  • Crokesburwe 1257 Rental
  • Croukesborowe 1575 Saxton

Etymology

Crooksbury Hill is Crokesburwe 1257Rental , Croukesborowe 1575 Saxton, Crooxeboroughe hill 1577, Crookesbury reede 1693MinAcct . The first element is probably Brit cruc , 'hill, barrow,' for this is a very prominent hill crowned by a tumulus or barrow.The second is beorg. Such pseudo-genitival compounds are specially common in hybrid-formations of this kind, cf. s. n. Reigate Hundred infra 281–2. We may note that for Cruchfield (Berks) we have an early form Crukesfeud (1286 Cl). A similar form for the first element in this name might well give rise to Crooksbury . Cf. also Crooks Hill, the name of a field in Bournemouth, by a barrow (see Grundy in Arch. Journ. lxxviii, 120).For reede , v. infra 364–5.