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.

Shoelands

Early-attested site in the Parish of Puttenham

Historical Forms

  • Sholand 1235,1241 Ass
  • la Sholande 1241 Ass
  • la Sholaunde 1251 FF
  • Scolond 1291 Tax
  • Shooland 1610 Speed

Etymology

Shoelands is Sholand 1235, 1241Ass , la Sholande 1241Ass , la Sholaunde 1251 FF, Scolond 1291 Tax, Schonlonde (sic)1338, Sholand 1463 Selborne, Shooland 1610 Speed. This name is repeated in Shoelands infra 218, Scoland (Wandsworth) 1177–86 Merton, Shoelands Fm in Hendon (Mx)Scholand 14th AD i, and perhaps in Shulland (K), Sholand , Sholond 1346 FA, 1349 Ipm. The etymology is uncertain. Mr Bonner suggests that the first element may be OE  sceolh, 'oblique, awry.' Such an adj. is quite possible in a compound of land , though it is not recorded in any OE name. Alternatively, we might take the first element to be OE  scēo , 'shoe,' which seems to be the first element in Shoebury (Ess)Sceobyrig (894 ASC), but the sense is obscure and the frequent occurrence of the compound makes this explanation doubtful for Sholand . In the 13th century Shoelands was held by the rent of a gilded spur (VCH iii, 55), but it is doubtful if there is any link between the name of the place and its tenure.

Places in the same Parish