Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Bichelei 1086 DB

• Bikeleg' e13 AddCh 1579 Chol

• Bicklegh 1272–1307 EatonB

• Bickley 1414 ChRR

• Bickley Hall 1683 Chol

• Bickley Mill & Bickley Town 1831 Bry

• Bickley Hall Farm 1839 TA

• Bickley Wind Mill 1842 OS

• Bekelegh 1329 Chol

• Bekely 1374 ib

• Bekelay 1386 ib

• Bekeley 1400,1463,1487 ib

• Beckeley 1536 ChRR

• Bykeslegh 1400 ChRR

• Bicklem c.1536 Leland

• Buckley 1724 NotCestr

• in hauec, in Bihic, in Thac, in Tol,…' 1257 AddCh 51376

• 'in beking et in cropping…' 1278 AddCh 50709

• in hauekis, in Bykis, in Tak', in Tol,…' 1320–25 AddCh 50490

• sēoc, and beke c.1450 MED

• bihic 1257 AddCh 51376

Etymology

'Glade of the bees'-nests or beehives', from bīc and lēah , with hall , myln , toun . The first el. of this p.n. is debatable. Ekwall (DEPN Bickenhall to Bicton ) takes the OE  pers.n. Bic (c )a as the first el. in a numerous series of p.ns, but, under Bickleigh , Bickley , he admits the possibility that not all these p.ns. contain the pers.n.To accept the pers.n. derivation in all of them would suppose Bic (c )a a very widely used pers.n. indeed (cf. the equally suspect Billa in Bilborough , Billing , etc., DEPN). Smith, EPN s.v. bīc , proposes that an OE word *bīc is to be reckoned with, and that this word is the stem of OE  bīcere, bēocere 'a bee-keeper' and is the origin of ME , ModEdial. bike 'a nest of wild bees, a bees'-nest, a beehive'. NED records bike from a.1300. Early instances appear in Ch deeds, of manorial appurtenances and rights 'in hauec , in Bihic , in Thac , in Tol ,… '1257AddCh 51376 at Tilston, 'in beking et in cropping …' 1278AddCh 50709 at Church Minshull, 'in hauekis , in Bykis , in Tak ', in Tol ,… '1320–25AddCh 50490 at Churton by Farndon.

The etymology of this OE  *bīc given in EPN 134–5 is dismissed by Ekwall (NoB (1957) 143 and Studies3 82) and Löfvenberg (ESt xliii 40), cf. JEPN 1 12. Ekwall, Studies3 82 notes the rejected suggestion in NED s.v. bike , that ME  bike might arise from an OE  *bēoc a contracted form of an OE  *bēo -wīc (v. bēo , wīc , cf. Bewick NbDu 19, YE 59), rejected because such an origin is expected to produce spellings *beke , *beek . As Ekwall points out, this objection is not fatal. He notes ME  sīk 'sick' from OE sēoc , and beke c.1450 MED for bike . There are Beke - spellings for 1329 for Bickley Ch, and AddCh 50709 contains beking 1278. If the form bike is a northern dial. form, then the original OE base might have been an Angl. OE  *bīo -wīc . The loss of -w - in such a formation would lead to hiatus between i and ī or a long īī diphthong (resulting from *bī (e-w )īc ), either of which could explain the spelling bihic 1257AddCh 51376.Again, if, as suggested in EPN 135, the word bīcere , bēocere 'a bee-keeper' is formed with the agent-noun suffix -ere 3 , the stem word would be an OE  *bīc , *bēoc . Such variants would also explain the i and e spellings in Bickley; further, they could have served as the stems for wk. masc. formations *bīca , *bēoca with the same meaning as *bīcere , *bēocere .

Despite the impossibility, at this stage, of providing a certain etymology for OE  *bīc (> ME  bike ) 'a bees'-nest', the word is a formal possibility, and its occurrence in the p.n. Bickley Ch is made more likely by the proximity of this place to Bickerton 4supra which contains bīcere, bēocere . A similar association of bike - and bikere - is seen again in Bickley Wo 53. This persuades me to see in Bickley and Bickerton allusions to bee-keeping and honey-gathering in this part of Ch (perhaps the reason for the Welsh translation of the p.n. Beeston 3 302–3 into y Fêl Allt 'the honey rock'). However, Dr von Feilitzen advises me that he would prefer Ekwall's explanation (Studies3 81–2, DEPN), OE  *bica , *bice 'a woodpecker'. The topography of Bickley does not invite the adoption of the alternative sense suggested by Ekwall in discussion of the p.n. Purbeck Do, a figurative use of OE  *bica 'a pecker, a bill, a beak, a promontory' also noted by Löfvenberg ESt xliii 40 (cf. JEPN 1 12).

The p.n. Bickley Ch is to be derived from either the OE  pers.n. Bic (c )a , or OE  *bica , *bice 'a woodpecker', or OE  *bīca gen.pl. of *bīc (the word lying behind ME  bike ) 'a bees'-nest, a beehive'. I follow the late Professor Smith in preferring the latter, but I cannot dismiss the others.