Fairfield
Early-attested site in the Parish of Belbroughton
Historical Forms
- Forfeld(e) 817 BCS360 11th Heming 11th Ass 1275
- Forfeud 1255 For 1262 Ass
- Forefeld 1271 For 1275 Ass 1279,1292,1316 Ipm
- Fortfeld 1280 Ass
- Forfeild 1474 IpmR
- Forfield 1616 QSR
- Forefield 1820 G
Etymology
This place lies on the northern edge of Feckenham Forest.The feld is the open country outside that forest-land. We may adopt Duignan's suggestion (PN Wo 60) that the prefix is OE fore , 'in front,' and then interpret the whole name as descriptive of land lying just in front of the forest-land. Cf. OE fore-burg , -duru , -scyttels , -tīege , -weall , -weard for similar compounds. The Forhill infra 333 provides a further parallel and other examples of the same type of compound are Fordon in the East Riding, Forwood in Henley-in-Arden (Wa) and Fore Wood in Crowhurst (Sx), Farwood (D) in Colyton (DB Forohoda , 1198 FF Forewode ) all thrusting themselves prominently forward. The form Fortfeld suggests confusion with the prefix forð -. Such confusion has its parallel in the double forms forð -tīege and fore -tīege in OE. For forð cf. Furtho (Nth) and Forty Green supra 202.