Both to the north and south of London there is high land where sands and gravels are superimposed on the clays which underlie the metropolis. To the north, flowing off these heights, which are very evident in the Highgate and Hampstead areas, are a number of streams which form tributaries of the Thames. Probably the best known of these are the Westbourne, the Fleet and the Tyburn. ‘Tyburn’ is a word of Saxon origins and its first mention is probably in the forged Charter of King Edgar (951) where it is written as ‘Teo-burna’. ‘Burna’ and its derivations are frequently found in English place names and they mean stream, bourne or brook. It is possible that the ‘ty’ part of the name indicates the union of two streams or a division into two branches enclosing an area of dry land. Another explanation is that the Tyburn was associated with the Saxons and the Germanic god Tiw who gave his name to Tuesday. If this latter explanation has any validity then this is ironic because Tiw was the god of law.
What do You think about Tyburn: London's Fatal Tree?
