Place Name
Named after the local area. The origins of the name are well established it comes from the Old English word hamm meaning a bend in the river and an Anglo Saxon personal name in this case Peohtrīc. So, the land in the river bend belonging to a man called Peohtrīc (Peter). But how far back does it go? It has been suggested that it was first recorded in the Dark Ages as Pitrechesham in AD675 or AD727, and again in AD933. However Dr David Mills in A Dictionary of London Place Names dismisses this saying: “Earlier spellings… are from spurious charters forged by monks at a later date.” We are on firmer ground with the Domesday Book of 1086 which records it as Patricesham. In 1276 it was recorded as Petrechesham; Petrisham in 1416 and it took on the contemporary spelling of Petersham in 1553.
