House, Farm & Field Names

The oldest field names in the parish are those of the mediaeval fields - Red Field, Butt Field and Broad Field.  The name Stallockmore or Stall Meadow which is mentioned in the Glebe Terrier of 1616, seems to be no longer used.  Fields were named for their shape, (Harp, Sling, Pick) for their good qualities, (fertile, sunny, productive) and sometimes for their bad ones (hungry, starving, cold).  They were named for the plants that grew there (broom, aspen, birch) for birds and animals (magpie, fox, snake, doe), for the building erected there, (Pigeon House, Brick kiln, Lime kiln), for farmers long departed and for other reasons for which no explanation is apparent.  The names sometimes changed over the years in a way that reflects that they were more often spoken than written eg. Brace ( 1840) is now Brays.  Copper Orchard (1840) became Cooper Orchard (1926).

Asping Coppice    Aspen trees
Bagburrow Wood    Bagga’s Wood
‘Badger’s’    There was a man called Badger living in the village in 1619, and he may     have built the house, which is of about that period, but a ‘Badger’ was also the name of a licensed dealer of corn.
    The house was a Grocer’s shop and bakery at one time.
Badham Green    Badham is a family name in Mathon
Barland Orchard    Barland was a favourite variety of pear.
Barley Orchard    An orchard next to, or on land previously used to grow a crop of barley.
Birchley Leasow    Meadow land on which birch trees grew.
Blackway Old Horse Pasture    
    Usually refers to land where buildings stood, or where ground has     been blackened by burning.
Bosberry Field    Another spelling of the neighbouring village of Bosbury.
Broom Hill, Brooming Orchard    
    Land where the broom grew
Butt Field    One of the three mediaeval fields.  Land formerly irregularly shaped, the end pieces of a common field.  Sometimes means a field used for archery practice.
Burford Farm    Edmund Burford was a churchwarden in 1690
(Upper) Canada    Fields were sometimes named after distant places
Cockshot Hill    A ride cleared in the woodland to enable game birds to be shot
Colwell Mill Orchard    Another spelling of the nearby village of Colwall
Copper Orchard    A variety of apple?
Court Piece, Court Furlong    
    Near Mathon Court
Dead Water Meadow    The River Rundle, or Cradley Brook flows sluggishly here.
Dobbin’s Farm    Galfrydo Dobyn is mentioned in the Lay Subsidy Rolls, and Robert  Dobyns was a witness to William Cliffe’s will in 1684.
Doe Fields Coppice    Named for the female deer which must have been common on the hills of Malvern Chase.
Dog pit rough    Perhaps connected with the so-called sport of dog-fighting (18th     Century), but may refer to the plant-dock.
Double Pole Hopyard    A windy field where the hops had to be particularly well supported?
Five Acres    Names like this rarely seem to represent an accurate estimate of the     size of the field, probably because in the course of time, pieces have     been added or taken away.  This one is 3 acres.
Golden Vale    Sunny and productive
Goose Foot Meadow    Goose Foot is a weed in grass land
Gorst Hill    Gorse
Great Ground    9 acres - a large field for the parish in 1840.
Ham Green    Mentioned in the Lay Subsidy Rolls - 13th and 14th Century - an enclosure.
Harcourt Road    Named after the owner of Mathon Park at the end of the 18th Century- Robert Harcourt.
Harp Acre    Shaped like a harp.
Home Spout Meadow    Spout is the local name for a spring.
Horse Nuts    Chestnut trees?
Hungry Croft    An unproductive field.
Littley    A small field - 2 acres.
Magpie Coppice    Self-explanatory.
Mill Meadow, Mill Field    
    There are three sites in Mathon with names suggesting the earlier existence of a mill - at Warner’s Farm, Old Country Farm, and at the present Mill House, near Mathon Court.
Moat Farm    There is the remains of a moat here, usually attributed to the 13th  Century.
Netherley Farm    ‘The lower cultivated clearing in woodland’.
Ney’s Meadow    There was a Napoleonic general of this name.  It is possible that the field was named after him, as he was much admired.
Nobody’s Acre    Small field, the ownership of which was contested.
Old Country Farm    One of the most important farms in the parish.
Old Lands Cottage    Until comparatively recent times a shop and bakery.  This name, and the name ‘Old Country’ suggest the mediaeval fields, which lay between the two houses.
Orles Meadow    Alders grew there.
Overley Cottage    ‘The upper cultivated clearing in woodland’.
Ox Leasow    A meadow used for ox pasture.
    Oxen were used as draught animals before horses became popular.
Parker’s    A yeoman’s house in the village, bearing the date 1610.  Probably the name of the first owner.
(The) Pick    A field coming to a point like the head of a pick.
Pigeon House Meadow
    A field behind the church which must have been the site of the pigeon house belonging to the Lord of the Manor and which provided him with a supply of eggs and meat in winter.  Some mediaeval     pigeon houses still survive in the county.  They were unpopular in those times, as the flock often numbered 200, they fed on the village crops, and only the Lord of the Manor was allowed to keep pigeons.
Pleck    A small plot, often waste land.
Powick Ham    Named after the nearby village.
Quabb Cottage, meadow, lane    
    Boggy land
 
Rails Nap    A fenced plot on a hill-side.
Ravenhill Cottage    Thomas Ravenhill owned this cottage and the ‘Cliffe Arms’ in 1840.
Red Field    The largest mediaeval arable field.
Red-streaked Orchard    A favourite variety of apple.
Rook (sometimes Ruck) Row Farm    
    May be named after a farmer rather than the bird.
Sling    Shaped like the leather part of a sling, narrow and often curving.
South End    The hamlet south of the village.
South Hide    The south hide of the village.  A hide was usually said to be 120 acres.
Spout Farm    No longer in existence.  It was owned for many years by the Dangerfield family, and old maps show that it was near Mathon Lodge.  Locally a spout is a spring.
Smith’s Green    Near South End.  For many years a smithy stood here and may have provided the name.
Stockton Farm    John Stockton lived in Mathon in the mid 17th Century.
Stubby Plot    Land where trees had been failed, and the stumps left in the ground.
Sun’s Hall    A sunny field.
Sweet Meadow    A good productive field.
Three lands in Inchley Field    
    Probably a very old name - ‘lands’ is the name for strips in the open arable field.
Town House Farm    Mentioned in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1275 and 1327.
Tynings    Enclosed land.
Tythings Cottage    The taxes levied on produce to support the church.
Vale of Evesham    A favourite variety of wheat.
Whistle Hill    Open to strong winds?

Now try your hand at these.  Probably some are named after previous owners.
Peter’s Park, Big Blunts, Little Berrets, Little Hadmans, Hill Out Coppice, Butler Well Coppice, Moundings, Hockett’s Meadow, Sexton’s Meadow, Crutchett’s Meadow, Edcott’s , Ediott’s, Mondings, Long Mondene, Cheese Cake and Little Have a Care