Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Pryhouse 1740 ib

• Raise 1597 Derwent

• Raies 1631 ib

• Raze, Raize, Rays 1706,1719 PR

Etymology

is Pryhouse 1740 ib . Pry here is apparently derived originally from dial . pry , a species of coarse grass ( v. NED s. n. pry sb. ) , but it has come locally to mean a small enclosure . The following note has been sent to us by a resident of Nenthead : “ These ancient ' prys ' were small enclosures of land , fenced off from the adjacent moors . Hay from these ' prys ' was of very poor quality , but constant cultivation has since transformed them into fine meadowland . ” Raise ( 6 ″ ) is Raise 1597Derwent , Raies 1631 ib., Raze , Raize , Rays 1706, 1719PR .