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.

Prestley Hill

Early-attested site in the Parish of Lyddington

Historical Forms

  • Presteley 1249 Cl
  • Prestesleye 1284 ib
  • Presteleye 1286 Ass
  • Prestleys 1565,1567 Conant
  • Prestleyes 1567 ib
  • Preistleis 1591 ib
  • Prisley Hill 1610 Speed 1715 Map
  • Prestley Hill c1800,1806 ib
  • Priestly Hill 1825 ib

Etymology

'Woodland of the priest(s)'. v. prēost , lēah . The earliest form, because constituting a pers.n., indicates that there was once a habitation site here. The income from this woodland would have been set aside for the endowment of clergy.