Thursday 3 March 2011

Roxwell: The place-name Radley Green (2)

Received : 5 February 2011

Hello, I am not a subscriber but have seen your reply about the Radley Green farm from last November and am interested in your comments. I have been studying my family name of Radley for many years and have looked at the origins of Radley Green to see how it fits in with the distant Radley's.

Although I dislike contradicting an expert such as P H Reaney, I do beleive he has got the facts wrong about the origins of the name Radley Green. He states Redwellmore 1246 and Redwell 1274 and For-Grene 1316 as early names. My own research has discovered that the earliest Radley (then Radlee) came to the area in 1445 and had a property conveyance at Norton Mandeville/Chivers Hall / Passefeld Chevres which are just a short distance away. The Radley's lasted in the area until 1618 at the places mentioned when the lands/property were all disposed of but at no time have I found Radley's living at Radley Green. Radley Green first appears in documented form in 1681, my assumption is that Radley Green takes its name from a field that was either owned or rented, and during the 1600's took on the localised name.

Reaney's place names I feel are being confused with Redwell Hertfordshire and localised place names in the Takeley area of Essex.

There was a Radley Green farm although I am not sure if it still exists.

Regards

Chris Radley

Replied: 12 February 2011

Thank you Chris for your e mail. This is just an amateur historian’s blog so you don’t need to be a subscriber. What I do is post any correspondence onto the site so that folks like you can join in any discussion about local history and heritage.

Your query relates to the entry, http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2010/11/roxwell-place-name-radley-green.html.

Your comments add to the debate.

You might be interested to know that a field of research is in progress to record all Essex place-names. The appropriately called ‘Essex Place-Names Project’ will index every place-name in tithe, enclosure awards and other Essex documents. It is a well establish project supported by the Essex Society for Archaeology and History. A group of volunteer researchers has compiled a database of around half of all the parishes in the county. Although Roxwell awaits a volunteer I notice that there are many references to Radley Green on the database even now. For more information, the leaflet says, contact the Essex Record Office, Wharf Road, Chelmsford, Essex. CM2 6YT or telephone 01245 244644. To access the database go to http://www.essex.ac.uk/history/esah/essexplacenames/simpleSearch.asp

Andrew

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