Homewood House
Early-attested site in the Parish of Bolney
Historical Forms
- Holmewoods 1558 SRS14,30
- la Hamwode 1271 Ass
- atte Homwode 1296 SR
- Sayshomwode 1373 Lewes104
- le Outwode 1314 Ct
Etymology
Homewood House is Holmewoods in 1558 (SRS 14, 30) and is to be associated with the pers. names la Hamwode (1271Ass ), Simon atte Homwode (1296 SR). This is the first example of a type of name which is fairly common in Mid and East Sussex.Cf. also Holmwood (Sr), 1243 Misc Homwude , and an unidentified la Hamwode in Ha (1229FF ). It is a compound of OE ham and wudu . The meaning is not certain. It may be an early use of ham , or 'home' in the sense' in the neighbourhood of an estate or mansion,' though this sense has not hitherto been noted earlier than the 17th cent. (NED s. v. home ). It lies near Bolney itself. Probably we have similar compounds in Homefeld in Uckfield 1452Ct and (le ) Hom (e )feld in Waldron 1453 AD vi, 1487 AD i. An interesting example is Sayshomwode 1373Lewes 104 in Hamsey, the home-wood of the Say manor. It stands in contrast to such a name as le Outwode (1314Ct ).