leyland

[mattcoulton]

i live in leyland lancashire and wondered where the name leyland comes from?

[Octavius]

The origin is Old English, i.e. the language that was in use between say 400 and 1100AD.  Obviously, over such a long period the meanings of words changed, and documentary evidence is sparse.  Nevertheless, it seems clear that for a considerable time the Anglo-Saxons had two words (or perhaps two versions of an earlier word) to denote different kinds of untilled pasture.
One was Leah.  This was a clear area in a wood; a sort of glade or open space where grass grew.  The last syllable in placenames like Bentley and Rayleigh has this meaning.  Sometimes it meant the wood itself, as
in Ashley or Staveley. It was, and is, pronounced �lee�.

The other was Laege.  This meant fallow or untilled land generally, and is the origin of �our� Leyland.  The original pronunciation was �lay�, as is confirmed by the way the Norman French-speaking monks wrote it down in the Domesday Book: Lailand.

In 12th and 13th century documents it was written as Leilandia and Leylond.

[jno]

the Penguin Dictionary of British Place Names says says it was land that was left to 'lie' (same word as ley), meaning it was used for grazing rather than growing crops. (This doesn't mean leylandii grew there - they were named after a 19th-century horticulturist called Leyland.)