Purlieu is a term used of the outlying parts of a

place Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own Municipality, municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road ...

or district. It was a term of the old Forest law, and meant, as defined by

John Manwood John Manwood (died 1610) was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, gamekeeper of Waltham Forest, and Justice in Eyre of the New Forest under Elizabeth I of England. He was a close relative, probably a nephew, of Sir Roger Manwood, Lord Chief Baron of ...

, ''Treatise of the Lawes of the Forest'' (1598, 4th ed. 1717), The owner of freelands in the purlieu to the yearly value of forty shillings was known as a purlieu-man or purley-man. The benefits of disafforestation accrued only to the owner of the lands. There seems no doubt that ''purlieu'' or ''purley'' represents the Anglo-

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''pourallé lieu'' (old French , , to go through

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

), a legal term meaning properly a perambulation to determine the boundaries of a manor, parish, or similar region. The word survives in placenames. Examples include

Dibden Purlieu Dibden Purlieu () is a village situated on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The village merges with the nearby town of Hythe. It is in the civil parish of Hythe and Dibden. The approximate population is around 4000 people. The ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, on the border of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

and

Bedford Purlieus Bedford Purlieus is a ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It is a national nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. In Thornhaugh civil parish, south of Stamf ...

, once part of

Rockingham Forest Rockingham Forest is a former royal hunting forest in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is an area of some lying between the River Welland and River Nene and the towns of Stamford and Kettering. It has a rich and varied landscape, wit ...

; also as Purley, in London, and

Purley on Thames Purley on Thames (known locally as Purley) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. Purley is centred north-west of Reading, east of Pangbourne, and south-east of Oxford. Consequently, Reading is the principal social, economic a ...

, in Berkshire. It also survives in the surname, Purley.

References

Bibliography

Rackham, Oliver Oliver Rackham (17 October 1939 – 12 February 2015) was an academic at the University of Cambridge who studied the ecology, management and development of the British countryside, especially trees, woodlands and wood pasture. His books incl ...

(1976) ''Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape.'' (London: J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd.) .

External links

{{Wiktionary, purlieu French words and phrases French legal terminology English forest law