Coggeshall - Etymology

Etymology

The meaning of the name Coggeshall is much debated. Different pronunciations and spellings have been used throughout its history and many theories as to the name's origin have arisen. The earliest mention of the name is in a grant from around 1040 where it is called Coggashael. The Domesday Book from 1086 addresses the town as Cogheshal and it is mentioned elsewhere as Cogshall, Coxal and Gogshall. Beaumont brought together several theories in his 1890, A History of Coggeshall, in Essex.

  1. Weever 1631 wrote about a monument found on "Coccillway", thought that Coccill was a lord of the area in Roman days and a corruption of the name led to Coggeshall
  2. Dunkin thought that it was a concatenation of two Celtic words - Cor or Cau with Gafael, enclosure hold; or Coed and Caer or Gaer, camp in a wood, "Cogger", the person owning this camp may have had a hall, therefore Coggershall. Beaumont largely rejects this.
  3. Philip Morant opined that the name was a corruption of Cocks-hall, with the seal of the Abbey featuring three cockerels. This may also be supported by Beaumont's suggestion that the first parish church, like the current one, was dedicated to Saint Peter, and the Cockerel was used as a sign of this dedication.
  4. Beaumont also reasons that the name may have come from the red coloured shrub, the Coccus, whose colour is pronounced Coch and many Ancient Britains had names related to colours.

Post-Beaumont, Margaret Gelling associated the name with the landscape in which the town is situated, believing that -hall comes from Anglo-Saxon healh, meaning a nook or hollow, thus rendering the name as "Cogg's nook" (with Cogg as a proper name), corresponding to Coggeshall's sunken position in the 150-foot contour line. There are several towns throughout Britain with similar names: Uggeshall, Cockfield, Cogshull, Cogges, Coxhall Knoll. Part of the Parish was known as Crowland, the Parish of Crowland in Lincolnshire has an area within it called Gogguslands.

Coggeshall has been called Sunnydon, referenced in 1224 as an alias for the town.

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