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.

Serpentine, Serpentine Bridge

Other OS name in the Parish of Sedgefield

Etymology

: “ the chief beauty of Hardwick is its soft , silvery lake ” Surtees III 34 . The lake , now drained , was a feature of the 18th cent. landscaped grounds of Hardwick Hall , probably named not just from its shape but with allusion to the Serpentine in Hyde Park begun for Queen Caroline in 1730 by damming the Westbourne, Pevsner301, Lond Encyc 413 , cf. the serpentine river in Hyde-park 1754 OED s.v. serpentine .

Places in the same Parish

Other OS name

Early-attested site