The name of Halifax

The name Halyfax appears in 1116, and the origin of the name is open to debate.

Some of the many suggestions as to the meaning of the name Halifax include:

• Most likely is the derivation from the Old English element halh or holh [a hollow or a nook] – referring to the setting of the town below Beacon Hill – and fax or gefeaxe [coarse grass land].

  The element halh is also found in names such as the surname Ridehalgh

• Halifax = Holy-face may originate in a relic, the face of St John the Baptist, which was said to be housed at the church dedicated to the saint.

  If this had been so, Halifax would have been a great centre of pilgrimage

• The element hali may be derived from words meaning either holy, or a personal name, and the element fax or gefeaxe may be derived from words meaning a division of land, or coarse grass land or highways – see below

• Camden quotes a legend that the town was originally known as Horton and The Chapel in the Grove and changed its name to Halig-fax or Halifax as it grew. He adds that fax means hair, and relates to the story of Ælred and the virgin

• In 1837, William White wrote:

  Four ways, by which the town of Halifax is entered, still distinctly point at the parish church as their common centre; these were the roads by which the pilgrims approached the object of their devotion, and hence the name Halifax, or Holy Ways; for fax, in Norman French, is an old plural noun, denoting highways

As a consequence of misinterpretation of the entry in Domesday Book, the word Feslei was once thought to refer to Halifax which does not otherwise appear there.

The manner in which the name is written is of interest. There are some variations on the coat of arms and elsewhere, and particular instances are

• Hale3fax
• Halegfax
• Halesfax
• Halezfax

See Feslei, Horton, Hudley, Orange Town, Toffee Town and Seal of the Waterhouse Charity

Page Ref: KK_205

search tips advanced search

site search by freefind