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.

Great Walley Hall and Little Walley Hall, Whalley Tye Fm

Early-attested site in the Parish of Fairstead

Historical Forms

  • Waudeleg' 1250 CottCh
  • Waldesleye 1291 For
  • Waldelegh 1399 Cl
  • Waldeleye 1323 For
  • Walley 1502,1536,1557 FF
  • Walley Hall t.Jas1 ChancP
  • Wileigh Hall 1777 C 1836 Wright
  • Weleigh Hall 1805 O

Etymology

Great Walley Hall and Little Walley Hall, Whalley Tye Fm is Waudeleg '1250CottCh , Waldesleye 1291For , Waldelegh ib., 1399 Cl, Waldeleye 1323For , Walley 1502, 1536, 1557FF , Walley Hall t. Jas 1 ChancP, Wileigh Hall 1777 C, 1836 Wright, Weleigh Hall 1805 O. 'Weald (a )'s leah' or weald-leah , i.e. forest clearing. The modern form is directly developed from the 13th-century unfractured forms above, but the early map forms point clearly to the local survival of the normal Essex pronunciation, as in North and South Weald, though this is undocumented.

Places in the same Parish