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.

Cradley

Major Settlement in the Parish of Halesowen

Historical Forms

  • Cradelei 1086 DB
  • Crandelega (sic) 1179 P
  • Cradelega 1180–88 P
  • Cradele(ye) 1272 Ct 1275 1310 Bodl50 1327 SR 1340 NI 1485 Pat

Etymology

This is a very difficult name and we cannot be sure of the position of the original nucleus of Cradley. It probably lay however by the Stour, with high ground north and south of it and Professor Zachrisson suggests that this leah may have been so called because it lay in a cradol or 'cradle' of land.