Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Gruteham 850 BCS458 14th RegMalm 1288 Ass 1289

• Grutenham 1065 KCD817 14th WMxxxiii 1349

• Greteham 1156 RegMalm

• Gretheham 1268 Ass

• Gretenham 1291 Tax 1362 BPR

• Gretenham, Gretnam t.Eliz WMxxi

• Gryteham 1268 Ass

• Gritnam 1595 FF

• Grittingham 1602 ib

• Grotenham 1279 Ass

Etymology

The soil here is gravelly and the place lies low by Brinkworth Brook; the probabilities therefore are that we have a compound of OE  grīeten , an unrecorded OE  adjectival derivative of grēot , 'gravel,' and hamm. Hence 'gravelly water-meadow or enclosure.' We may perhaps compare Grotelinche , Grotenberwe 1341 Trop (in Codford), Grotenhill 1448Kings (in Brixton Deverill), le Groten c. 1350 Trop (in Chicklade). Ekwall (DEPN s. n .) suggests that Greote was an old name for Brinkworth Brook itself, but we know now that its usual earlier name was Idover. Cf. supra 2–3.