272 The Names of Places in Wiltshire. 



manor the brook itself is described as " rivulus cui nomen 

 est Weare." We can hardly avoid the conclusion that the 

 last mentioned name is a contraction, or cori'uption, of 

 Wafer, the original form being' preserved more nearly in the 

 name of the mill on a higher part of the stream. 



Whittoxmede. This occurs only as a personal name in Wilts. See 

 Aubi'ey; index, snh voce. It is the name however of a place 

 not far from the borders of the county in the parish of Wellovv, 

 in Somerset. Collinson, iii., 327. It is spelt in Domesday 

 Witoches-mede . The former portion of this word has the look 

 of a personal name, but at the time of Domesday surnames 

 were hardly yet in use, at all events they were excessively rare. 

 I cannot help thinking therefore that this portion of the name 

 is composed of the Cornish cuit (= wood) and the adjectival 

 termination oc, (see above § 26 under Lacock), and means sim- 

 ply " woody J "the whole name designating the " meadow by 

 the wood." In the word Wheat-acre, which has become the 

 personal name Whit-taker, and which also assumes the form 

 of Gat-aker, (see above § 24,) we have, it is believed, another 

 variation of this same old Cornish word signifying " wood. " 

 [It is right to add that in a SaxonCharter we meet with the ex- 

 pression Hioittuces-hloew, i.e., Wittiick's loiv (or tumulus) which 

 we can only regard as aj}ersonil name. Its origin may never- 

 theless be from the source indicated in the above paragraph.] 



WiNFiELD. Near Trowbridge ; spelt in Domesday Wine/el, and in 

 the Sarum Registers, till very recent times, Wynjielcl, or 

 Winfield. Its former syllable is most probably the Welsh 

 chwyn (= weeds) . There is a local term in Wiltshire, %chin, 

 which seems to be the same, and is used as a synonym for 

 ftirze. See HalliwelFs Provinc. Diet. 



Whichbury. On the southern border of the county, not far 

 from Downton. For reasons given in § 2 it is probable that 

 the former portion of this name is Celtic, and possibly from 

 the Welsh gwig (or gwic) which signifies a hamlet. It is 

 close by Breamore, which is clearly a Celtic name. See 

 above § 13. 



