English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Priestley

Early-attested site in the Parish of Flitwick

Historical Forms

  • Prestelai 1086 DB
  • Prestele(ye) 1196 P 1202 Ass c.1350
  • Prestle(e) 1321 Ch 1373 Cl 1403 IpmR

Etymology

'Priests' clearing' v. leah . Whether it was a clerical endowment or what the relation of the priests to the clearing was we cannot now say. The normal development would have been to Prestley , and that can still be heard locally.

Places in the same Parish

Major Settlement

Early-attested site