Tracing a surname to its place of origin begins by constructing a path with surname references placed in their geographic and temporal context. The article that follows illustrates the use of place name and environmental evidence to supplement the process of building a surname trail.....

The Background:

It's not precisely  know when  the Saxons began to organize the landscape on the open field principal. Certainly by the late 9^th century manorial records indicate farming was taking place on the central plains of England with the village as the nucleus of the medieval economy. As England's population expanded more villages were created and more land brought under cultivation with new fields, pastures and meadows carved from the nearby woods.

The Saxons employed an extensive topographical vocabulary to denote features of the landscape and woodlands were no exception. In some instances the terms reflect regional dialect, in others, subtle nuances as to the nature or function of the woodland. Consequently village names derived from the woodland reflect a rich diversity of form. Suffixes such as ley hurst, shaw, and wood  were commonly used. Species of trees, Oak, Ash, Elm, were frequently appended to form place names or features of the landscape. 

While the village system was largely in place by the time of the Norman conquest, the role of the forest would grow in importance as it served as a source of income, game and recreation for the Norman aristocracy. Eventually “Royal Forests” would be established which, at their greatest extent, would cover approximately 1/3 of the English landscape. While the Royal Forests were not entirely woodlands, forest law greatly restricted and prescribed their use and exploitation. 

From the 11th through the early 14th century, England experienced climatic warming and an acceleration of population growth. Estimates suggest more than a doubling of population occurred during this period.  A  further expansion of the village system into the adjacent woods was needed to accommodate this growth. As this was precisely the time during which surnames were being widely adopted, it should not be surprising that surnames derived from the woodlands or from settlements named for woods, were common.

Geographic Stability:

A notable characteristic of many surnames is their geographic stability. In many  instances present day surname distributions are found in close proximity to their point of origin, often within a few miles of the village or feature after which they were named.

Cary 1787: Part of Hertfordshire showing parks and woods

But what of surnames derived from the ancient woodlands? In order to examine the degree to which surname distributions are geographically associated with the woodlands, we would first need to know the extent of woodlands at the time surnames were formed. The task of determining the distribution of woodlands was first undertaken by a remarkable young woman, Hilda Annie Wilcox. In 1927 as a Masters student at Liverpool University, Wilcox began the complex task of mapping the Ancient Woodland. Her methodology was ingenious. Wilcox, would not only construct one map, she would construct two. Each would be based on entirely different sources of data, therefore, one could be used to act as a check against the other. The first would rely on English places names and references drawn from the Domesday Book. The second would assemble data drawn from 17^th and 18^th century county maps. This latter map has been studied by Brian K. Roberts and found to be remarkably consistent  with our contemporary understanding of the ancient woodland. The work of Wilcox was followed beginning in the 1950’s by Darby (1952 - 77), and later an Atlas of Rural Settlement undertaken by English Heritage. Most recently Natural England has produced a highly detailed digital survey of the remaining ancient woodland to be used as a guide in land use planning.

The Methdology:

To test the association of surnames with  the woodlands, we will use  The Natural England GIS Digital Boundary set as a surrogate for the ancient woodlands. 76% of the 41,029 woods in the data base are named and can provide important clues to place and surname etymology. The search facility of The Surname Atlas will be used to isolate surname elements from the 1881 census. Similarly place names  with the same elements can queried from the Gazetteer of British Place Names. The Place name distributions can then be compared with the distribution of surnames and the woodlands. Several specific surnames will be mapped to illustrate distributions with single, plural and multiple origins.  Finally  a case study will examine in more detail surnames derived from "Box" woods. (Unless otherwise noted surname distributions will be mapped "per 100,000 population" to eliminate bias caused by urban agglomeration or by sparsely inhabited areas. In doing so the maps will hopefully focus attention on the underlying impact of the woodlands. )

Surnames derived from "ley".

The most common "woodland" names are those  bearing the "ley" suffix or it's variants.{ ley(1,828), Leigh(133), Lee(56), and Lea(47) } Remarkably 775 surnames with a frequency greater than 100 carry the "ley" suffix. "Ley" surnames accounted for 773,386 individuals and 2.96 % of the population in 1881. The suffix appears in combination with place names, topographic features, personal names, crop types, and species of animal and  trees.

 Multiple origins are likely including the Manchester Region, West Yorkshire, the Midlands and Gloucestershire. Bradley place names appear to be spatially associated with the surname concentrations. Bradley woods are also closely associated with Bradley places.

 The distribution of the Oakley surname is closely aligned with the woodlands, particularly the flanks of the Pennines and the margins of the Chilterns. A number of Oakley Places and Oakley woods are found in close proximity to the surname clusters

Shaw Surnames:

The Henshaw surname is relatively rare. It is fond on the margins  of the Pennines in close proximity to both Henshaw places and Henshaw Woods. 

Wood Surnames: 

The Sherwood surname  is widely distributed throughout the ancient woodlands. There are several places named Sherwood however they don't appear to be closely related to the surname distribution. Phil Sherwood has suggested  that the name is related to "Shirewoods" This certainly seems to be the case in numerous locations in the north west where Shirewoods exist.

 Woodbury  is an extremely rare Surname. Located in Devon, it likely has a single origin Derived from the place name Woodbury.

Case History: The "Box" Surnames

Early English inlaid boxwood tea caddy with banding c1790

Today the Boxwood  is widely distributed in the southern half of the United Kingdom. Such has not always been the case. Evidence suggests it may have been native to parts of southern Britain in pre glacial times but it was certainly reintroduced by the Romans. Valued for its tight grain, "Box" was, and continues to be used by wood workers for small vessels and for inlay. It was also utilized as hedging and topiary by the Romans. Following the collapse of Roman Britain, boxwood naturalized into selected favorable niches. It's preference was for locations with steep south facing slopes and mildly acidic well drained soil. Today native Boxwood is often found in association with stands of Beech and Yew which also favour slopes and well drained calcareous or sandy soil.

A number of surnames contain the prefix "Box", with a total frequency of 5694 individuals found in the 1881 census. Of these, Box(2424), and Boxall(2378), are by far the most common, comprising 84% of the individuals.

The meaning of the second element in Boxall is uncertain. Several possibilities can be advanced. For example it could be derived from Box Hill, Box Hall, or Boxholt. George Redmonds identifies a number of ways surnames can be transformed over time. Aspiration can result in the dropping of the h sound. Thus Box Hill could become Box ill, or Box Hall might be expressed as Box all. In the case of  Boxholt(e), either the h,  might be dropped, or the "t" truncated, resulting in Boxol and eventually Boxall. Dialect would clearly play a role in this process.

The Box/Boxall surname distribution:

With respect to the Box surname Rainey identifies several possible locations, Box in Gloucestershire, Box in Wiltshire, Box Hall in Herts or a residence "near a Box tree as in Thomas Atteboxe 1263". Both Box Wiltshire and Box Gloucestershire appear to be at the core of the Box distributions.

The Boxall Homeland:

In the 1881 census the  Boxall surname appeared to be concentrated in the North West  Sussex, Hampshire and South West Surry. This pattern is even more pronounced  when locations associated with the16th and 17th century surname distributions are mapped.

Reaney points to a Bugsell farm in Salehurst (Sx), or a "lost Boxholt(e)" near Kirdford Sussex as a possible point of origin for the Boxall surname. Additional place name evidence strongly supports the vicinity of  Kirdford. On the outskirts of Kirdford one finds:

•  a Box Cottage
• a17th century two story listed farm house at Boxalland farm 
• a wood called Boxalland Copse
• a Boxal Brook
• and a Boxal Bridge

Six miles north west of Kirdford in the parish of Lurgshall we find:

• a second Boxalland Farm
• an 18th century listed Barn at Boxalland farm
• a second Boxalland Copse
• and a Boxall Moor

Within the Clay Weald the term "copse" is used to describe the vast majority of woodlands. The fact that "coppice" is of Old French origin, suggests much of the Weald may have been transformed for exploitation following the Norman conquest, particularly during the period of population expansion.

The occurrence of a Boxalland Copse in each area  points to the possibility that the Boxalls were involved in coppicing wood. The family of William Boxall (Boxalland Farm Kirdford), owned woods of oak and beech in 1656 (Kirdford Inventories 1611- 1776). The apparent "move west" by the Boxalls to Lurgshall may have been precipitated by the exhaustion of the woodlands in the Kirdford area.  In is likely  Kirdford supplied wood for the nearby Petworth glass industry. (see side note)

The Lost Boxholt(e):

Woodlands were an important element in the economy of the eleventh century. Acorns and beech-mast provided food for swine

Early Saxon settlements were largely restricted to river valleys and areas with adequate soil fertility. In Northwest Sussex, Saxon settlements were confined to areas underlain by Upper and Lower Greensand and Galt strata. In contrast the soil on which Kirdford is located is of poor quality (clay), and the region was still sparsely inhabited in the late Saxon early Norman period.

 Small independent satellite villages and farms tied to the manors located in the Greensand belt characterized settlements in the Clay Weald. Boxholt(e) may have been one such settlement. The Saxon term holt(e) is interpreted as a managed wood. The Saxon Manors of the Greensands are known to have had appurtenance in the Weald used for pannage and as a source of wood.

The Domesday survey  is silent concerning settlement on the Clay Weald. Kirdford, and neighboring  forest villages are noticeably absent. However 200 years later Kirdford,  and Boxholte, are places recorded  in the Assizes of 1279 (Sussex Place Names). In 1291, Rectories in Kirdford, Linchmere, Lurgshall, and Stedham were recorded in the Pope Nicholas taxation.

The location of Boxholte remains a mystery. Hundreds of English villages disappeared in the aftermath of the plague in the 14th century. It would not be surprising if small settlements or hamlets in the Weald  experienced a similar fate. Alternatively  it's resource base may have been exhausted resulting in the disappearance of the settlement.

Are there clues which might lead to Boxholte's location? We can only speculate. Was the location of Box Cottage at some point in the distant past associated with a Boxwood?  Might this be the lost Boxholt(e)? Access to Kirdford likely would have been reached from Petworth to the south. As noted above the Petworth glass industry relied on the Weald as a source of wood. The parish boundaries of Petworth extend well into the Weald to within a mile of Kirdford. Box Cottage is on the boundary of the two Parishes.

Environmental conditions favorable for  the growth of Boxwood may provide a clue to its location. As previously mentioned, Box and Beech woods are often found in association with each other. Beech  and Yew are found in a belt along  the sloping margins of the Clay and Upper Greensand beds. It is noteworthy that Beech and Yew woods are also found near the southern margins of Kirdford parish. 

Finally a potential location is found due north of Kirdford. In the midst of the clay one finds a limestone outcrop near Plainstow. Given the preference for calcareous soils this might also merit consideration as a potential site for the mysterious Boxhot(e).

While it is not possible to come to any definitive conclusion concerning the location of the "lost Boxholt" the evidence strongly points to the Kirdford region as the home of the Boxall surname.

Thanks to the valued assistance of the following Guild of One Name Studies members who contributed to this project: