Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Lea is an Old English word meaning a "clearing", an "open piece of grassland" or a "grove", and is reflected in most of the English town or village names ending in "-ley" or "-leigh". Examples are: Wembley - Wembla's Clearing (Greater London) Purley - Peartree Grove (Greater London) Hadleigh - Heather Clearing (Essex) But note these exceptions: Beverley - Beaver Stream (East Riding of Yorkshire) Bewdley - Beautiful Place (beau lieu) (Worcestershire) The word is still current in poetic language, meaning "meadow" or "pasture". This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.