Sherfield on Loddon
county:
coords:
Hampshire
SU6758
Sherfield upon Loddon
otherwise: Sirefelda, 1167; Scirefeld, 1212
SHERFIELD-ON-LODDON (UPON LODDON)
Hypothetical Old English 'Scir(an) felde' (oblique case form of) '(the) bright open land', possibly meaning 'sparsely wooded'. If the name once denoted a larger area than the modern parish, we should reckon with 'scir'='shire' as the first element, as we are not far from the Berkshire border. But the bulk of the spellings do suggest the weak inflected adjective 'bright'. See below. Distinguished as 'on Loddon' and the like from the mid 16th century, in contrast to SHERFIELD ENGLISH. For the same reason, in earlier times (eg 1280), occasionally distinguished as 'Warblynton' from the family of Thomas de Warblinton whose family must have originated in WARBLINGTON.
There are several names in the county containing Old English 'scir' as the first element, but whether in the sense 'bright' or 'shires' should be discussed. Those attested in early times are all (except perhaps SHIRLEY) consistent with an origin in 'sciran' the definite oblique inflected form of the adjective. But all except one are close to border territory, and also consistent with an origin in 'scira'='of the shires'. SHERFIELD-ON-LODDON church is just over 3 miles from Berkshire, SHERFIELD ENGLISH is less than a mile from a salient of Wiltshire. MONK SHERBORNE and SHERBORNE ST JOHN would have been less than 5 miles from Berkshire before the transfer of Mortimer West End to Hampshire. Other local place names are 'Shirlen's Copse' (1365 'Shirlond') in Newnham and 'Shear Down Farm' (1334 'Scirdoune') in Hannington, neither more than 6 miles from Berkshire. It would be open to speculate that the northern edge of Hampshire was added relatively late to the county, before which time it was a bulwark or no man's land between the two counties or the administrative areas that were their ancestors. SHIRLEY in Millbrook is not near a boundary, but it might be hypothetical Old English 'Scirleah'='shire wood/clearing', with 'scir' in the singular. The Domesday Book hundred of 'Shirley' comes to within 3 miles of the Dorset boundary and is adjacent to RINGWOOD hundred (cf this name). SHIRRELL HEATH may also contain 'scir'='shire', but in exactly what sense is uncertain.
This difficult problem is made even more complex, because consideration of the CLERE names seems to lead us in the opposite direction and to take 'scir' to mean 'bright' after all.
Shown on an old map by Harrison 1788
- settlement, town - Odiham Hundred - Hampshire
Period - 1780s
Shown on an old map by Morden 1695
- settlement, hamlet - Basingstoke Hundred - Hampshire
Period - 1690s-1720s
Shown on an old map by Blaeu 1645
- settlement, village - Odiam Hundred - Hantshire
Shown on an old map by Speed 1611
- settlement, village - Odiam Hundred - Hantshire
Shown on an old map by Norden 1607
- settlement, village - Odiam Hundred - Hamshire
Period - 1590s-1600s
Shown on an old map by Saxton 1575
- settlement, village - Southamtoniae
