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.

Toftley's Fm

Early-attested site in the Parish of West Rasen

Historical Forms

  • Toftleys Fm 1828 Bry

Etymology

TOFTLEY'S FM, Toftleys Fm 1828 Bry, cf. Toftlaye 1323MC , Toftlaw 1326MC , 1329MC , Toftlawe 1339MC , Toftlagh 1331MC , toftley 1577Terrier , Toftley 1596Terrier , Toft Leys c.1677Terrier , the second el. is probably lēah 'a woodland glade', 'meadow, pasture', though this is rare in L. Topography suggests that the sense here is 'meadow, pasture'. The early forms for the name are paralleled by those for Wheatley, PN YW 136 and for Healaugh, ib 4240–41, and see also ib 784, paragraph 20. The farm is near Toft next Newton and so the name probably means 'the meadow, pasture near or belonging to Toft'. The later spellings have apparently been influenced by leas , leys common in North L.