Smalley in the Domesday Book (1086)
Smalley is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Morleystone in Derbyshire.
Other Settlements in Morleystone
- Bradley
- Breadsall
- Breaston
- Cellesdene
- Chaddesden
- Codnor
- Crich
- Denby
- Derby
- Draycott
- Duffield
- Hallam
- Heanor
- Herdebi
The Meaning of the Name
The name Smalley is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word lēah, a woodland clearing or glade. The first element is most likely a personal name or an early descriptive term, now difficult to recover with certainty. Taken together the name probably meant something close to ‘a clearing’.
Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as Smalley.
Listed Buildings Near Smalley
Historic England records 5 listed buildings within about a mile of Smalley. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.
Grade II
- Garden Wall and Towers at Stainsby House - 0.31 km
- Church of St John the Baptist - 0.33 km
- Smalley Hall and Conservatory - 0.55 km
- Wall and Well Head at Smalley Lodge - 1.07 km
- Smalley Lodge - 1.09 km
Smalley Today
Today Smalley lies within the administrative area of Amber Valley, and the settlement recorded a population of 3,270 at the 2021 census. Nine and a half centuries separate that figure from the small rural community the Domesday survey recorded here in 1086.
Read more about modern Smalley on Wikipedia .
Nearby Domesday Settlements
Other places recorded in the 1086 survey within a few miles:
Heritage Around Smalley
Photographs of churches, listed buildings and monuments in the vicinity, contributed by volunteers to the Geograph project and reused here under a Creative Commons licence.
© Adam Foster · Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
© Rob Bradford · Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
© John Poyser · Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Images © their respective photographers, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 and reused here with attribution. Photographs depict listed buildings, churches and monuments near this settlement and may show neighbouring villages.
Data derived from the Open Domesday project (opendomesday.org), based on the Domesday Book dataset compiled by Professor J.J.N. Palmer and team. The Domesday Book (1086) is in the public domain.
Found an inaccuracy? [email protected]