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.

Cofton Hackett

Major Settlement in the Parish of Cofton Hackett

Historical Forms

  • æt Coftune 780 BCS234 848 BCS455 11th BCS701 c.930 11th
  • Costune 1086 DB c.1086 EveA&B 1190
  • Costona 1208 Fees36 1212 1242 P 1271 Ipm
  • Kofthon, Coftone 1280 For 1295 Ct
  • Corfton Hakett 1431 FA
  • Korfen Hackett 1650 Surv

Etymology

Middendorf (28) and Duignan (PN Wo 39) agree in suggesting that the first element here is OE  cofa , used in one or other of the varied senses that the modern English cove has, viz. pit, cavern, cave, shed, shelter. Professors Ekwall and Zachrisson point out that in a compound of this kind, if of early formation, the absence of any sign of the suffix -a is not surprising, cf. OE  gum -drēam from guma and han -crēd from hana . The compound must denote a tun marked by a cofa . Wm. Haket held Cofton in 1166 (RBE).

Places in the same Parish