Sloley
Major Settlement in the Parish of Sloley
Historical Forms
- Slaleia, Saleia 1086 DB
- Slalee 1207 Cur 1288 FF
- Slaleg' 1214,1220 Cur
- Slalegha 1220 Bract
- Slahele 1243 Fees
- Slaleye 1254–75 Val 1330 SR
- Slalegh' 1255 FF
- Slawley 1574 Saxton
- Slolege 1251 Ch
- Sloleg 1251 FF
- Sloleye 1257 Ass 1311,1350 FF 1336 Ch 1346,1402 FA 1374 Pat 1386 Bodl
- Sloleghe 1269 Ass
- Sloley 1302,1316,1428 FA 1479 FF 1482 Pat
- Slowley 1535 VE
Etymology
'The clearing where sloe grows', v. slāh and lēah . OE slāh 'sloe, blackthorn' is found in the oldest glossaries. The unidentified Domesday vill Clareia 1086 could well be a spelling for Sloley.Through dissimilation we could get a development *Slaleia > *Slareia . Feilitzen (78) quotes examples of such dissimilation, for instance l-l > l-r in Alweald > Aluuard and Zachrisson (39) gives examples of interchange s , sc and c in the spellings of DB and later, for instance c for s in Cadingtone for Saddington L and Clipton for Slipton Nth.
The exterior of the church dedicated to St Bartholomew has been restored. The chancel is of c. 1300 (Pevsner 316).