Freshwell Hundred
Hundred in the County of Essex
Historical Forms
- Fross(c)ewella 1086 DB
- frosseuuelle 1086 InqEl
- Fros(e)well(e) 1174–7 P 1275 RH
- Fraxwell' 1198 CurR
- Frox(e)well(e) 1182–4 P 1227,1248 Ass
- Fresch(e)well' 1219 Fees 1315 Inqaqd
- Freshwell 1594 N
- Fros(s)hwell 1254 Ass 1321 Pat 1346 FA 1552 EASxi 1768 M
- Fres(e)well 1275 Abbr 1285 Ass
- Froyswell 1275 RH
- Frouswell 1277 EHRxl
- Froschyswell 1389 Works
- ffrischewelle 1488 Queens
- Threswell t.Eliz LP
Etymology
'Frogs' spring or stream,' OE forsc, frosc, frox and wielle , with early confusion with fersc , 'fresh.' Harrison (107) in 1586 states that one of the headwaters of the Pant was named Froshwell , 'of Frosh, which signifieth a frog,' the name of the river as far as Blackwater, 'where the name of Froshwell ceaseth.'Variously called a hundred and a half-hundred.