Nuffield, Oxfordshire

The ancient Ridgeway path runs through the village. The section of the Ridgeway west of the village follows the ancient Grim's Ditch, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The earliest known records that refer to Nuffield by name are from the early decades of the 13th century, when episcopal registers variously record the toponym as Togfelde, Toufeld or Tofelde. The ecclesiastical valuation prepared in 1254 by Walter Suffield, Bishop of Norwich for Pope Innocent IV records it as Todfeld. A feudal aid prepared in 1428 records it as Tuffeld. At a later date the first letter changed from T to N to create the modern form of the name. The name comes from Old English, possibly hōh-feld meaning…