Stakenford Bridge
Early-attested site in the Parish of Rous Lench
Historical Forms
- Stakumford Bridge c.1830 O
Etymology
We have no old forms for this name, but the first element is probably the word stakyng found in the Red Book of the Bishop of Worcester. There a certain cottarius holds a stakynge juxta Temede , i.e. by the Teme, and we have reference to the rent of six shillings derived from the pools (gurgites ) and stakyngorum per aquas de Temede Sabrine , i.e. on the Teme and Severn.These stakings , though the word is not on record in the NED, were doubtless 'staked' grounds of some kind for fishing. The ford may have been by such ground or it may be that the name simply denotes a ford marked out by stakes, cf. Stakynbroke in Hagley (AD i) which is near the present hamlet of Stakenbridge.