Why Wisewood?
A few months ago someone at Wisewood Church asked me where the name Wisewood came from and what does it mean. For many years I have been interested in how the name of a place can tell you something about its history. Wisewood Church is really in Wadsley, or at least it was when Wadsley was first settled by the Anglo-Saxons by a small group of people lead by Waddi in an area cleared of trees then known as a Ley, making up Waddi’s Ley. Barnsley and Loxley have similar derivations.
Stannington too is an Anglo Saxon name but its meaning is disputed. Ton indicates a settlement (as in town) and Ing, in the middle of a name, usually means belonging to somone, ie. Stann. However some historians claim that the first syllable refers to stone and not someone’s name. Unlikely but not impossible. Similarly with Nottingham (Ham giving us hamlet) and Birmingham. Sheffield is of similar vintage. The river Sheaf gives the first syllable and Field means an open space, rather than a field as we understand it today. Bradfield, therefore, means a broad, open space.
However some other names are of much more recent creations. Hillsborough was part of Owlerton in earlier times but when Hillsborough Hall (now Hillsborough library), was so named, the owner, who was a friend or Lord Down in Ireland, decided to name his edifice after his aquaintance’s house and the area around the hall then became know as Hillsborough, but only in the late nineteenth century. Owlerton, incidentally, probably means a settlement (Ton) where alder trees grew.
Wisewood? It most likely means a wood, belonging to an Anglo Saxon named Wisa but the syllable Wisa could come from the word Waes, meaning a pasture or meadow. However, Wisewood Church is not really in Wisewood, which is around Loxley Road, in the Loxley valley. When the church was opened in 1969 it was decided that, as it was next door to Wisewood School, it should take the same name. The school was so named as it was built to serve the then new Wisewood estate.
Ray Battye