Cloffocks NX995290 Fyt Cloffhow n.d.
, Two Cloffocks 1660, High Cloffock, Middle and Low Cloffocks 1749
PNCu
p361 derives this from Old English clōh "a deep valley or ravine" and
hōh " a spur" and they cite
Ekwall's comparison of it with Clougha
in Lancashire. The 1867 OS map shows an
area of marsh and creeks adjoining the river Derwent, hence the name fyt
in the undated form is from Old Norse fit
"a meadow," usually by a river.
I think
the second element is unlikely to be hōh
because that wouldn't give /- ək/ but rather
/- ə/ < / əx/ as in
Clougha or Moota. I think it is rather
the Brittonic diminutive -og which was borrowed into English to create such words
as bullock and paddock (earlier parrock, though
parrock as probably purely Brittonic and a dimunitive from Welsh pawr, Cumbric por- "grazing", as Andrew Breeze has suggested.
The
topography doesn't really suggest a ravine either
CLOFFOCK,
a liberty (extra-parochial) adjoining
the
parish of Workington, in ALLERDALE ward above
Derwent,
county of CUMBERLAND, containing 15 inhabitants.
This
is a large common, lying on the north
side
of the town of Workington, and is completely surrounded
by the
river Derwent and a small stream.
Races
are held annually upon it; and at the west end
are a
quay and a patent slip. A portion of the ground
is called
Chapel Flat, whence it is thought to have
been
the site or property of a religious house.
Strange
that it was extra-parochial. Cumbria
County Council's archaeological survey here
says there was medieval settlement here and remains on a 1589 map. However,
most of the buildings were demolished after 1954.
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