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.

Lawbrook

Early-attested site in the Parish of Shere with Gomshall

Historical Forms

  • Laybroke 1283 Ct
  • Leybroke, Laybroke 1314 Rental
  • Leybrokes 1511 LP
  • Laybrook House 1765 R.

Etymology

Lawbrook is Laybroke 1283Ct , Leybroke , Laybroke 1314Rental (p), Leybrokes 1511 LP, Labrookes 1625, Lawbrookes 1713Ct , Laybrook House 1765 R. The name is identical with Laybrook (PN Sx 181) and Leybrook in Ringwood (Ha), Laybroke 1323 WintonCart. All these contain OE  læge, 'fallow, unploughed,' as in læg -æcer (BCS 964), þæm ealdan læg hrycge (BCS 924), and cf. lea-rig in NED. broc has its common southern English sense of 'low-lying land.'