Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Mastells 1626 Raist

• the Mastilles 1686 PRCon

• Bordley Mastells 1763 Raist

• Boardley Mastiles 1817 M

Etymology

Mastiles Lane & Mastiles Gate, Mastells 1626Raist , the Mastilles 1686 PRCon, Bordley Mastells 1763Raist , Boardley Mastiles 1817 M. It is difficult without earlier material to explain this name. It might be connected with an obsolete Cu dial. word mastel 'a patch or border of an arable field left unploughed' (which perhaps occurs in Mousey Mastles iv, 170supra but here it is possibly a compound of mersc 'marsh' and stigel 'stile' (also in dial. use for 'a gap in a wall', 'a bridle path, a steep path up a hill'). The name would refer to the mountain lane from Kilnsey to Malham Tarn through boggy hill- pastures; there was a place here called Great Marsh f.n. infra .