Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Would some kind soul please provide the acceptable pronunciation of the word (town) Maghull. A former resident once told me they pronounced it "Maggull", that is "Maggle", but I have read that it was once said as "Mail". It is likely that both have been correct throughout history. Can anyone elucidate, please?

Jill Statton, Adelaide, South Australia

Hi Jill,

This town Maghull, is just a few miles away from where I live, Formby. Everyone in the area says "Magull", not pronouncing the H.

Don't know how it was pronounced decades ago though !


Glenys

And I'm in the opposite direction from Glenys, so it's local to me also.

I think you could spell it M'gull and get the pronunciation right.

Thanks for that. Still would like to know about "Mail".

As you say that this was something you've read, I also did a google.

The British History Site http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report ... mpid=41323 mentions this but that it was in the 15th Century so before my memory at least

Googling shows there is a Maghull and Lydiate Local History Society - try them

Ed Officer

About M'gull, aka Maghull!

This from Wikepedia...
History:
The building of Maghull has progressed in several stages. The original settlement was probably on a ridge of high ground, that can be most clearly seen at Red Lion Bridge. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal follows it on the plain and the A5147 on the brow.

This ridge marks the edge of the flood plain of the River Alt, providing protection from flooding and access to this fertile pasture of the plain. The name Maghull may have been derived from the Celtic word 'magos', the old Irish 'Magh' and the Old English 'halh', meaning 'flat land in a bend of the river'. Another theorized origin is Anglo-Saxon mægðehalh = "nook of land where mayweed grows".

Timeline:
1086: The Domesday Survey records Maghull (spelt Magele) as an agricultural settlement of six square miles, with 50 inhabitants.
About 1100: The first known church was started in Maghull; though rebuilt at least once this chapel still stands, in the churchyard of the Victorian St Andrews and is the oldest ecclesiastical building in Merseyside still in regular use for worship.

Dickiesam

'Mail' might refer to the medieval name for 'Melling' (Maghull's neighbouring village).

Melling was first settled by the family of Maella in the 6th century ... hence its name originates from the Anglo-Saxon roots for "The homestead of Maella", (or Malla).

Hello ZED,
Thanks for the contribution. Love the hairstyle!


Dickiesam

dickiesam wrote:Hello ZED,
Thanks for the contribution. Love the hairstyle!


Dickiesam

Suits me, doesn't it?!