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.

Conkwell

Early-attested site in the Parish of Winsley

Etymology

Conkwell is first so called in 1778 (Recov ). It is close to the place called cunuca leage (BCS 1001) as noted by Grundy (The Saxon Charters of Somerset , 216) and it is clear that the first element in these two names must be the same. Grundy suggests that cunuc is “the name of the streamlet which runs from Conkwell to the Avon” but there is no such stream. More probably cunuc here has reference to the steep hill with its rounded top rising to over 500 feet. See Conock infra 312.

Places in the same Parish

Major Settlement