Talk:Gailey, Staffordshire

Former Name

Following comments by User:Pjparker moved from article page.

The village was never called "Spread Eagle", that is a common pub name!

The village history is better documented on "WWW.CannockChaseHistory.ORG.UK", quote:-

"The Domesday lists this place as Gragelie, but the 'R' is probably there by mistake, since it does not appear in the name anywhere else. In c.1002 the name was spelled Gageleage, which is very close to the Old English words gagel, which means 'bog-myrtle', and leah, which usually means 'woodland clearing'. Therefore this is 'the clearing where bog-myrtle grows'. By 1267 the name had lost the middle 'G' to become Gaeleg and was well on the way to the modern spelling. (Mills, p.147; Poulton-Smith, p.53)"

Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 22:50, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

The English Place-Name Society at [1] supports this origin for the name. Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 23:02, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Gailey Hay in the Middle Ages was an area of Cank Forest or Cannock Chase, covering the area of the village. The derivation given above looks fine to me but it was an area, not a village name. Victoria County History says the village was originally called Spread Eagle after the pub, which belonged to the Littleton family until 1919. It lay within Rodbaston township. The name Gailey was being used as an alternative designation for the village by 1834, but clearly did not replace the old name completely until much later. There is nothing odd about villages named after pubs. The next village south on the very same road is called Four Ashes, for the very same reason. Cf. also Craven Arms, Shropshire. It's a very common situation when a settlement grows up on a major route. The Spread Eagle served the road, the railway and the canal, so it's hardly surprising its name was renowned and its location well-known. I propose to change the entry to reflect the known facts. Sjwells53 (talk) 13:56, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Yates 1775 map of Staffs calls the village "Spread Eagle" and has "Galey Heath" is a large area of open land as far as Hatherton (check it at Staffordshire Past Track), confirming that the word originally referred to quite a large area, not a particular hamlet or village. First Series OS map, 1801-1869, marks the village "The Spread Eagle", while the canal dock is called "Galey Wharf". There's also a "Galey Farm" well to the east, on what was heath a few decades earlier, as well as a "Galey Ozier Bed", The osier bed fits in well with this being historically a boggy area. Incidentally "gale" is still a common synonym for bog myrtle, bearing out the etymology above, which is also confirmed by the toponymist Kenneth Cameron. The change after 1775 fits in with VCH telling us the area was enclosed in that year under an act of 1773. By the 1899-1904 OS maps, Gailey is used for the village and the station, and "Gailey Farm" is used for a completely different farm near the station. Clearly there was a change in usage, which is not exactly uncommon. I'm not entirely sure why this particular article has been immune to editing and correction based on known facts from authoritative, easily-discovered references, but I think someone should alter it. I'll do so in a week if no one else does.Sjwells53 (talk) 14:46, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

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