Yardley (Fm)
Early-attested site in the Parish of Pitstone
Historical Forms
- Erle 1227 Ass 1284 FA 1339 Pat
- Yardley 1826 B
Etymology
Possibly Eorlan -lēah becoming Erlele and then Erle . Hence 'Eorla's clearing,' *Eorla being a shortened form of one of the OE names in Eorla -. Ekwall would take this and Arley (La 2) and (Wa) and Early (Berks) to be OE ere -lēah , 'clearing for ploughing.' For initial y cf. Ernesdon supra . The d is late and epenthetic.