Daily archives: September 1, 2024

Sawley was originally known as Salloe.  In the Domesday book it was spelled ‘Salle’.  A ‘Salh’ or ‘sealh’ was the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) name for a willow tree.  The common varieties of willow, of the type that grow along the Trent, are still called sallow.   The name was similar in Old Norse (selja) so there would have been little reason to change it when Sawley was part of the Danelaw.    ‘Ley’ at the end of an Anglo-Saxon placename usually means clearing in a wood.  But the ‘Salle’ in the (early Norman) Domesday book suggests the modern name just evolved from Salle/Salloe over the subsequent years.    But we don’t know the origins for sure.  For example, the Old English name for a hill/hillock is ‘hlāw’.  And the area around Sawley church is on higher ground.  Which would have been very significant to farmers before the flood banks were built.   In contrast, Wilsthorpe is clearly a Danelaw (Viking) name.  ‘Thorpe’ usually meant a small hamlet within a larger parish, and most ‘..thorpe’ places are still quite small.  The first part of a placename was usually the person who held the land.  So, Wil or Wifel, or something like that. […]