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.

Furlong Field

Early-attested site in the Parish of Tydd St Giles

Historical Forms

  • field called Spadeholme al. Furlong 1605 Wisb

Etymology

Furlong Field (6″) is field called Spadeholme al. Furlong 1605Wisb .Cf. Spadeholm (e ), Spadeholm (e ) feilde 1618AddCh , 1667Wisb . The first element here can hardly be the common spade . There is a rare ME  spay , spey , MFlem speye , ModWFlem speie , spei , related to Flem  and Du spui , 'a sluice,' recorded from 1415 to 1451 in NED. From this a verb might have been formed in the sense 'to provide with a sluice.'Spayed-holm would become Spadeholm , 'water-meadow with a sluice,' v. holmr . v. Addenda lx.