Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Strele 1528 SRS14,225

Etymology

Streele Fm is Strele in 1528 (SRS 14, 225). This must be OE  strǣl , 'arrow,' still preserved in the Sussex dialectal streale used in that sense. It is descriptive of the site of the farm, which lies in the curious arrow-like northern projection of Pulborough parish along the eastern bank of the Arun. Förstemann (ON ii, 902) gives parallels for the OHG  strata , 'arrow,' used in a toponymic sense. Its use here and in two other names in Sussex (v. infra 383, 394) suggests that the word may have had a more generalised sense, 'narrow strip of land or the like,' cf. also Strellond as a field-name (1464Ct ).