Horsham
Major Settlement in the Parish of Horsham
Historical Forms
- Horsham 947 BCS834 12th BCS1125 963 Ch 12th 1233
- Horsam 1301 Ipm
- Horsom 1657 SAC42,116
- Hosham 1601 MarL
Etymology
This is a compound of hors and ham or hamm , 'horse homestead or enclosure,' i.e. presumably where they are bred. The 17th cent, etymology recorded in SAC 53, 197 is noteworthy: “very very bad wayes, from whence it is sayd that towne had its name, the steps to it being up to the horses hams.”