Martock was known in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Mertoch". It means ‘Rising bright from the shining sea’ from the Old English ‘meretorht’. It was the property of Queen Edith (Eagdith), wife of Godwin and mother of Earl Harold (Harold II). By 1066 it was the property of Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor. The word root ‘Mer-’ can also refer to ‘a boundary or shore line’ from the Old English ‘maere’. It is possible that the name included the Old English element ‘stoc’ meaning ‘by a lake’.