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.

Swanswell Pool

Early-attested site in the Parish of Coventry

Historical Forms

  • le Swaneswelpole 1542 MinAcct
  • Swanswell poole 1656 Dugdale

Etymology

Swanswell Pool (6″) is Swayneswell pole 1336, Swanneswell , le Swannespole 1411Coventry , le Swaneswelpole 1542MinAcct , Swanswell poole 1656 Dugdale. The forms are not early enough for certainty. If the earliest is correct, the 'well' was originally named after a man bearing the Anglo-Scand  name Swein (Sveinn ), later altered to 'swan' through popular etymology.This pers. name is common in the 14th-century Subsidy Rolls.