over

1) Through the late Middle Ages, ‘over’ had the sense of ‘upper’ and it was used in contrast to ‘nether’ or ‘lower’.

1517 half an acre lying in Aykden goyng downe from the over ende ... also half an acre ... at the nether ende, Threshfield

1564 the Intacke callyd Rawden Moore butteth upon ... the over end of Deane Moore, Rawdon. These were regional usages and they would survive only in dialect from the seventeenth century. Two entries in the court roll of Wakefield for 1609 are evidence that this was the transitional period: Longwood, Charles Kirshawe for nether end and John Haighe de Slake for over end

the water runnynge from the upper end of Shepley unto the nether end. Both overend and netherend were frequent place-names, and the former survives as a common Yorkshire surname, first recorded in 1297. Upper Heaton near Huddersfield was Overheaton in 1578 and is ‘Ower Yetton’ still in dialect.

dates 1517 1564 1609

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