Editing Chalk Farm (section)

==History==
{{main|Camden Town}}

===Manor of Rugmere===
Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086.<ref>Domesday Online resource https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ2983/rug-moor/</ref> The manor was one of five which made up the large [[Civil Parish#Ancient Parishes|Ancient Parish]] of [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]].<ref>BHO on the manor of Rugmere, ie Chalk Farm, being part of the parish of St Pancras 'Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 19, the Parish of St Pancras Part 2: Old St Pancras and Kentish Town, ed. Percy Lovell and William McB. Marcham (London, 1938), pp. 1-31. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol19/pt2/pp1-31 [accessed 16 May 2020].</ref> Rugmere is thought to mean ''the [[Woodcock|Woodcock's]] Pool''.<ref>London, 800-1216: The Shaping of the City p 343, referring to Place Names of Middlesex p142</ref>

[[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] bought part of the manor, detaching it to form the north-eastern part of what would become [[Regent's Park]], the remainder subsequently become more commonly known as Chalk Farm. Both the detached area and the remainder remained part of the parish of [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]].

In 1786 the estate was sold to [[Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton]], it was described as ''commonly known as Chalk Farm''. The term ''Rugmere (or Rug Moor)'' appeared to have endured for some time as a field name.

===Etymology===
[[File:Image taken from page 307 of 'Old and New London, etc' (11190625083).jpg|thumb|Old Chalk Farm in 1870]]
The origin of the name is disputed: it certainly does not derive from the soil, as the area is built on [[London Clay]]. The consensus view is that "Chalk Farm" derives from [[Middle English]] ''Chaldecote'' or ''[[Caldecote (disambiguation)|Caldecote]]'', a common English toponym meaning "cold cottage" first attested in the area of Chalk Farm in 1256. This had become ''Chalcotts'' by the 16th century, and ''Chalk'' by 1746. The full form "Chalk Farm" is a 19th-century coinage, though "Chalcott" remained in use in the early 19th century for a nearby estate, formerly the Upper and Lower Chalcot Farms.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mills|first=A. D.|year=2010|title=A Dictionary of London Place-Names|isbn=978-0199566785|edition=2nd|pages=47–48}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Tallon|first=Philip|year=1999|title=What was a Caldecote?|journal=The Journal of the English Place‑Name Society|volume=31|page=50|quote=''Chaldecote'' 1253 C1, ''Caldecote'' c.1400 Barratt, ''Chalcotes'', ''Chalcotts'' 1531 LP 'Chalk Farm' is a 19th century coinage.}}</ref><ref name="Walford287-300">Edward Walford, 'Primrose Hill and Chalk Farm', in Old and New London: Volume 5 (London, 1878), pp. 287-300. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol5/pp287-300 [accessed 16 May 2020].</ref>

The Chalcott estate was farmed from England's Lane in [[Belsize Park]], in the parish of [[Hampstead]], half a mile to the north-west (first recorded as ''Chaldecotes'' in the 13th century). The estate had split into Upper and Lower Chalcot Farms by 1720, but reunited and farmed from Upper Chalcot Farmhouse around 1797. The counter argument{{by whom|date=December 2022}} is that Lower Chalcot Farm was not Chalk Farm as often claimed, but actually farmed from another farmhouse on England's Lane.<ref>T F T Baker, Diane K Bolton and Patricia E C Croot, 'Hampstead: Economic History', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, Hampstead, Paddington, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1989), pp. 111-130. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp111-130 [accessed 16 May 2020].</ref><ref>T F T Baker, Diane K Bolton and Patricia E C Croot, 'Hampstead: Manor and Other Estates', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, Hampstead, Paddington, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1989), pp. 91-111. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp91-111 [accessed 16 May 2020].</ref> If that argument is correct then Chalk Farm was never known as Chalcot, but probably named for the whitewashed farm buildings. Chalk has often been used as a product in [[whitewash]].{{original research inline|date=December 2022}} The farmhouse at Lower Chalcot was sometimes referred to as the ''White House''.<ref name="Walford287-300" />