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.

Cuckow Church

Early-attested site in the Parish of Warwick St Mary

Historical Forms

  • Cukhowchirche 1397 Warwick
  • Cokhowchirche 1406 ib
  • Coukkowchirche 1401 IpmR
  • Cockouchurch 1403 Cl
  • Coukowechurche 1407 Cl
  • Cokkowe chyrche 1449 Warwick
  • Cukkowe Churche 1479 Pat
  • Cokkowe churche 1493 ib
  • Cuckow Ch. 1535 VE 1656 Dugdale
  • Cuckowhill olim Ryckmershay 1725 B
  • Rykemylesbury 14th Warwick

Etymology

The first element is probably the ordinary word 'cuckoo.'The reason for the name is unknown. Cf. “certain grounds lying within Wedgnok-park where antiently stood a Chapel which was of the Earls of Warwick 's patronage” (Dugdale 183).According to Dugdale (loc. cit .) the chapel once belonged to a village called Rykmersbery (Rykemylesbury 14thWarwick ) long since depopulated. It lay two miles west of Leek Wootton church and the name is probably preserved in Cuckow Hill near Bulloak Fm (Kempe 216).