Wilkesley in the Domesday Book (1086)

The settlement of Wilkesley is recorded in William I’s Domesday survey of 1086, entered under the hundred of Warmundestrou in Cheshire.

Other Settlements in Warmundestrou

• Acton
• Aston
• Aston [juxta Mondrem]
• Audlem
• Austerson
• Baddiley
• Barthomley
• Basford
• Batherton
• Blakenhall
• Broomhall
• Buerton
• Cholmondeston
• Chorley

The Meaning of the Name

The name Wilkesley 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 Wilkesley.

Listed Buildings Near Wilkesley

Historic England records 5 listed buildings within about a mile of Wilkesley. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

• Wilkesley Farmhouse - 0.56 km
• The Royals Farmhouse - 1.22 km
• Lodmore Lane Cottages - 1.24 km
• The Royals - 1.25 km
• Outbuilding Circa 10 Yards to North of the Royals - 1.27 km

Scheduled Monuments Near Wilkesley

Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites given legal protection. 1 lies within roughly a mile of Wilkesley:

• Moated site and field system 250m south east of Middle Morrey - 1.28 km

Wilkesley Today

Today Wilkesley lies within the administrative area of Dodcott cum Wilkesley.

Nearby Domesday Settlements

Other places recorded in the 1086 survey within a few miles:

• Audlem - 3.6 km NE
• Tittenley - 4.5 km SE
• Broomhall - 5.1 km N
• Aston - 6.1 km N
• Buerton - 6.3 km E
• Wrenbury - 6.7 km NW