|
In the Gosport Museum booklet called ‘The Place Names of Gosport’ by Philip Eley, he says, 'Anns Hill. Anwell, Annswell. 15th century. Anwell probably derives from Old English enadawiell - ducks' stream - reflecting the stream that once flowed into the head of Forton millpond. Later the name transferred itself to a natural spring at the corner of Mill Road with Brockhurst Road. The tendency for a 'w' in a name to become silent (e.g. Southwick)explains the transformation from well to hill (Annswell, Annsell, Annshill) many years before the first railway bridge gave the area a real hill.'
|
