JOHN MOOREHERITAGE SERVICES - Archaeology Data Service

John Moore HERITAGE SERVICES Cobrey Farm, Ross on Wye, Herefordshire
An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment
formation of a name such as Home Farm. Alternatively the term can become
confused with ham a water meadow.
The field name of Area B (SO 612 219) refers to pits, one should consider
that these are quarry pits. The first part of the name How is presumably derived from
an Old English word for a spur of land, an apt topographical description, or in its
alternative form Two Pits a reference to the number of quarry pits in the field.
The reference to the field-name Inage is well attested, such names use the
term in- that refers to the inner fields of a manorial holding (SO 612 217). It thus
obtained its name from its proximity to Cobrey Park or to an earlier medieval centre
closer to it.
Is derived from a plant name.
The field name of Area A is Slaughtern, a recognised name derived from
the blackthorn or slow.
The name Trebandy (SO 615 221) also requires older forms to confirm its
origin. Tre- names are common in Wales and the Marches where it is often
recognised that they are derived from tref, a settlement (Owen and Morgan 2007,
463-74). Often in these names the –f– is dropped.
The field to the south of Area B and to the west of Area C,
which has now already been graded for a caravan park, was previously known as
Tuck Mill Meadow (SO 613 216). The name has not been associated with other mills
in the area and it is highly likely that the field represented the location of an earlier
medieval mill.
The field names recorded on the tithe map to the northwest of
Area A are also of interest. Field 335 refers to Wall House Meadow (SO 632 222);
the name could refer to a vallum and a house that took its name from the vallum. The
house may have been located elsewhere and the reference may be to one of
ownership. Adjoining these fields are the equally intriguing Draw Bridge (330), Draw
Bridge Orchard (335a), Draw Bridge Common Field (336). The latter group of names
refer to a bridge, but it is not altogether clear what type of bridge this is. A fortified
site with a proper drawbridge would be expected to leave recognisable remains, none
have been noted to date. It is possible that there was a bridge located on the brook
here or that an earlier structure lies under Frogmore Farm, and even the possibility
that Wall House could be located under Frogmore Farm.
Discussed in text above, the location is immediately to the south of Area A.
The name Old Field (SO 635 218) occurs to the southeast of the site, the term Old
often indicates a relict feature, which may be the location of the barrow.
Wig field names require older records to determine exactly what
source they have derived from. The name could be associated with various forms of
wic, in its simplest forms it could be a reference to a medieval dairy farm, in its more
complicated forms it could be derived from vicus, a Roman settlement or town.
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