A Study of the Strood by W.E. Duane. Chapter 4. Page 16.

The Early Settlement of Mersea Island

The variety of spellings of both Mersea and the Strood which were found on the study of the maps would seem to lead to the next field of research.

The name of a place of site is often the first identification that it has, so perhaps a study of the place-names will yield some clue towards establishing the origin and siting of the Stood.

Meres-ig, Maeres-ig, Meresai and Meresaia, are some of the early spellings of Mersea and reference to the standard works on derivations has brought forward the following opinions.

Morant in his History of Essex [Note 1] says:-

"the name is formed from Saxon words, 'Mere' the sea or marsh and 'ig' an island, unless the first part of the name should be derived from the word 'Maera', the extremities or boundary, this being a boundary here against the sea, but the former appears to me the most probable."

Saxon origins of the name are also given in the Place-Names of Essex by P.H. Reany [Note 2]
"Meres-ig(e) c. 895 A.S.C. (A)
- Island of the Pool", Mere denotes a pool in Old English.
Here it is probably used of the major inlet from the sea formed by the estuaries of the Colne and Blackwater. The ...

Note 1 Page 424. Morant History of Essex.
Note 2 Page 320. Place-Names of Essex

Date: 1965