Great & Little Oakley
Recorder:
Beryl Tite
Contact email:
Village Website:
Facebook Page & Groups:
Great & Little Oakley local history recorder page.
Here are the annual reports:
Beryl explains the village name:
After the Pagans came the Danes and Saxons when the area became known as Acley: 'Ac’ meaning oak, 'Iey', a pasture, thus a plain of oaks. The area was just part of a huge area governed by the Saxon landlord Alvric.
The Middle Ages were a dark period and little is known of its people or their business. We had to wait for the Normans to some and 'civilise' the inhabitants and everything is listed in the Domesday Book of 1085. Great Oakley is included and would appear to have been a wealthy parish. Under the heading Accleia, Great Oakley was owned by Robert Gernon, Lord of Stansted Montfitchet and his family.
