Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• le Lepecrouche c.1450 Hailsham

• Lip Cross 1724 B

• Lepeland c.1450 Hailsham

• Lype land 1557 SRS29,6

Etymology

Leap Cross is le Lepecrouche c. 1450 Hailsham, Lip Cross 1724 B and is to be associated with Lepeland c. 1450 Hailsham, Lype land 1557 SRS 29, 6. It is clear that both the cross and the land were named after a certain 'lepe.' This might be a 'leaping- place' of some kind, though it certainly could not have been a particularly 'steep' place (v. hlype ). Possibly also the land might have been called from 'lepe' in the common Sussex sense of 'half-a-bushel' (v. leap in Parish), the land in question yielding such an amount of grain.