Origins
It is not known when Ebbesbourne was first inhabited or what it was called but fragmentary records from Saxon times (circa 826 AD) indicate that the whole Chalke Valley area was thriving, and the village was called Eblesburna. It is surmised that the land adjacent to the bourne (river) was once owned by a man called Ebbel. Note that the word bourne is derived from the Old English "brunna".
The Domesday Book in (1086) described it as Eblesborne. Geoffrey de Wak became Lord of the manor in 1204, but although his relationship to Hereward the Wake is unknown, the shield of Hereward's coat of arms can today be seen on the church tower. By 1249 it was known as Ebbelburn Wak. By 1785 it was known as Ebesborne Wake.
In the 12th century the area was known primarily as the Stowford Hundred then subsequently as the Chalke Hundred. This included the parishes of Berwick St John, Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Semley, Tollard Royal and 'Chalke'.
Although the name Ebbesbourne Wake has developed over time, the spelling has never been completely settled. The Ordnance Survey of 1889 and 1927 used Ebbesborne Wake, whilst the 1963 and 1974 maps used the 'orne' spelling for the parish, but named the village Ebbesbourne Wake.
Historian Peter Meers notes in his book Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages that Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage of both 1926 and 1965 describes the spelling of 'bourne/borne' as inconsistent.
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