Page:Surrey Archaeological Collections Volume 1.djvu/314

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COLD HARBOUR, CROYDON.

"Cold Arbour," "Cold Kitchen Hill," &c, and is probably a corruption of the Celtic word col, signifying a head or chief; Kitchen he deems to be a corruption of the Celtic word crech and crechin, a hill or summit; so that Col Crechin, or the chief summit, has been anglicized into the "Cold Kitchen Hill" of modern Wiltshire.

Before I proceed with these imperfect glances, let us inquire into the origin of the word Harbour. This word, according to Todd, seems to be derived from the Saxon heꞃebeꞃᵹa, a military station, a lodging for soldiers.[1] So that from these readings we might conclude that Cold Harbour is a corruption of col and heꞃebeꞃᵹa, or a chief military lodging or resting-place. Such an explanation is apparently supported by the fact that these Cold Harbours are commonly found in the immediate vicinity of old British trackways, or the Roman roads which were often raised on the ancient ways of the Britons—roads portions of which, we shall presently see, may yet be traced in the neighbourhood of Croydon. As a resting or halting place for soldiers our Cold Harbour would possess the considerable advantage of being close to one of the chief springs of the Wandel, that at Waddon Court.

The name of Cole, or Cold Harbour, remarks Mr. Arthur Taylor (when speaking of the Cold Harbour near Thames Street[2]), is known to be remarkably suggestive and significant in its general connection with ancient military works, and its occurrence here would

  1. ↑ Herberge in French; herberg, Dutch; albergo in Italian. From this usage of the word, adds Todd, which obtained among the Germans also, the sense of it as an inn, or lodging for any persons, was adopted into several languages.
  2. ↑ In a conveyance of the reign of Edward III. called "Colde Herberghe."
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