Place Name
Thought to be from a stream in the hollow in this case the River Fleet which used to flow in a valley near here. The River Holborn initially referred to the uppermost reaches of the river. It was first documented as Holeburne in an Anglo-Saxon charter of AD959. The surrounding area itself became known as Holeburne by the time that William the Conqueror was putting together the Domesday Book in 1086. In the ensuing centuries it was variously spelt Holeburn in 1191, Howeburn in 1551 and Holburne in 1567. The river is now covered over by Farrington Street but the hollow is still very clear.
