Herriard
county:
coords:
Hampshire
SU6645
otherwise: Herierd, 1160; Hereyerd, 1236
HERRIARD
There are occasional spellings with 'h' in the second element (1269 'Hereyherd') but the name is fairly clearly hypothetical Old English 'Heregeard'='army yard or enclosure'. Although in use as a personal name element, the word 'here' was not a flattering one by later Old English times; the Laws of Ine define it as a band of more than 35 robbers, and it is the normal word for the dreaded Danish host. What events are commemorated by this place name is not known for certain. But intriguingly, the Old English Chronicle (A and E versions) records that in 851 (850) '[the heathen, ie: the Danes] went south over Thames into Surrey; and king AEthelwulf and his son AEthelbald, with the West Saxon levies, fought against them at 'Acleah' and there was the greatest slaughter of a heathen host that we have ever heard tell of, and there won the victory' (Garmonsway's translation of the E-text). Recent historians have declined to identify 'Acleah'; it is certainly not Ockley (Surrey), as once thought. There is an OAKLEY about six miles NW of Herriard, and it is tempting to wonder whether we should look beyond Surrey, into north Hampshire, for the site of AEthelwulf's famous victory, as argued by eg Baring (1907). (Not too much should be read however, into the existence of 'Battle Down Farm' in East Oakley, on record since the 14th century. This contains a French word, and probably refers to the site of juridical battles (cf 'Battles Piece' a field in Bishop's Sutton). It is not likely to allude to a memory of the c9 battle.)
If Herriard was not the site of the Danish camp in 851, it may have been that of 871 [870], when the Danes defeated the Saxon levies at Basing, about 6 miles away (cf LICKPIT/LYCHPIT).
Shown on an old map by Badeslade 1742 (perhaps)
- settlement, village - Hampshire
Period - 1740s
Shown on an old map by Morden 1695
- settlement, village - Barmanspit Hundred - Hampshire
Period - 1690s-1720s
Shown on an old map by Ogilby 1675
- village - Hampshire
Shown on an old map by Blaeu 1645
- settlement, village - Barmaspit Hundred - Hantshire
Shown on an old map by Speed 1611
- settlement, village - Barmanspit Hundred - Hantshire
Shown on an old map by Norden 1607
- settlement, village - Bosmere Hundred - Hamshire
Period - 1590s-1600s
Shown on an old map by Saxton 1575 (perhaps)
- settlement, village - Southamtoniae
Listed in Domesday Book
- Bermesplet Hundred - Hantescire
Period - 11th century
TERRA HVGONIS DE PORTH ... Ipse H ten. HENERT et Walteri de Hugone . Erlenc tenuit de rege E ...
Listed in Domesday Book
- Bermesplet Hundred - Hantscire
Period - 11th century
