- There are places called Oversley elsewhere in England.
Oversley and Oversleyford (sometimes Oversley Ford) is a name used for some places in an area near Manchester Airport.
- Oversleyford Bridge, where the A538 road from Altrincham to Wilmslow crosses the River Bollin
- Oversley Lodge Farm (as at August 2011 occupied by an asbestos cleanup firm for training)
- Oversley Farm, and Oversleyford Brickworks, now obliterated by Runway 2 of Manchester Airport
The name is first recorded in the 13th century as Vulverichelei and seems to come from Anglo-Saxon Wulfrīces lēah (Wulfrīc's clearing or meadow).[1] The ford was probably a few yards north of the modern main road Oversleyford Bridge, where a minor road bridges the Bollin; that minor road is now a back entry to a hotel's front yard but was part of the A538 road before it was diverted for a runway extension. The name Oversleyford is at the middle of the south edge of this old Ordnance Survey map.
Oversley Farm edit
Remains of a timber long house were found near at Oversley Farm during the building of Manchester Airport's second runway.[2][3] Oversley Farm has been described as "by far the most important prehistoric site within the boundaries of the twenty-first-century city ... [and] ... one of the most important in the North West".[4] It is the site of an Early Neolithic farming community, although it is now underneath runway two of Manchester Airport. The longhouse measured 10 metres (33 ft) by 7 metres (23 ft) with a central hearth. Material in the pit was radiocarbon dated to 3975 BC to 3675 BC.[4] The site was probably in use into the Late Bronze Age.[5]
References edit
- ^ John Dodgson, in The Place-Names of Cheshire 1, p. 230; he says that the ford was at the south end of Wulfrīc's land.
- ^ "Revealing Cheshire's Past" (PDF). Cheshire County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Nevell (2008), p. 11.
- ^ a b Nevell (2008), p. 14.
- ^ Nevell (2008), p. 15.
Source
- Nevell, Mike (2008). Manchester: The Hidden History. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4704-9.