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.

Clay Brook

Early-attested site in the Parish of Halifax

Historical Forms

  • Cleybroke 1488 WCR
  • Cle(y)broke, Clegbroke 1492 MinAcct

Etymology

Clay Brook (lost), Cleybroke 1488WCR , Cle (y )broke , Clegbroke 1492MinAcct , probably 'stream in the clay', v. clǣg , brōc , but the last spelling rather suggests an ON  equivalent *klegg (cf. Dan kleg 'clay') or possibly ON  kleggi 'a haystack, a hill'. The exact location is not known, but it appears to have been in the neighbourhood of Shibden Hall.

Places in the same Parish

Early-attested site

Other OS name