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.

Holdings Fm

Early-attested site in the Parish of Kempsey

Historical Forms

  • Houdene 1320 Pat
  • Houdon 1327 SR
  • Howdens 1444 HMCx
  • Holden c.1830 O

Etymology

This is apparently a purely manorial name. It takes its rise from a grant by the Bishop of Worcester (c. 1305) to one Adam of Howeden . The modern form is in part an inverted spelling, due to the common development of old to owd , and in part a vulgarism such as is dealt with by Wyld, Colloquial English 290.