Bishop's Stortford

English

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly the Saxon settlement derived its name from 'Steorta's ford' or 'tail ford', in the sense of a 'tail', or tongue, of land. The town became known as Bishop's Stortford due to the acquisition in 1060 by the Bishop of London. The River Stort is named after the town: 16th-century cartographers assumed that the town must have been named after the ford over the river.

Proper noun

Bishop's Stortford

1. A town and civil parish with a town council in East Hertfordshire district, Hertfordshire, England (OS grid ref TL4821).

Derived terms

• (River) Stort

References

• Parish map