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.

Old Clee

Major Settlement in the Parish of Cleethorpes

Historical Forms

  • Cleia 1086 DB
  • Cleiam 1191,1192,1193,1194 P
  • Cleie 1206 Ass
  • Cleye 1314 Inqaqd
  • Cley 1362 CottCh
  • Cle c.1115 LS 1155–58 Ch 1334 ChancR 1196 P 1197,1198,1202,1204,1205,1206 Fees 1212 WellesLA p1220 Fees 1242–43 RH 1275,1276 QW 1281 RSu 1292 Abbr 1300 FA 1303 Fine 1304 Inv 1594
  • Clee 1232 Welles 1254 ValNor 1281 QW 1291 Tax 1298 Ass 1304 Ipm 1310 ADii 1314 Pat 1316 ADiii 1316 FA 1327 SR 1328 Banco 1332 SR 1335 Pat 1341 Extent 1343 AddCh 1346 FA 1351 Cor
  • Clee als Cley 1316 BT 1759 BT
  • Clye 1537 LP 1551 Pat 1576,1597 Inv

Etymology

From OE  clǣg 'clay, clayey soil', topographically appropriate for the site of Old Clee, now the name of the old village. Clee was originally the name of the parish.