BUGLEY
Bugley appears as Bogeley in 1275 and 1311, Buggeleye in 1312, Bogeleigh in 1313 and Buggele(e) in 1316 and 1317. With the exception of the 1275 reference in the Hundred Rolls, all the other references are to a person, William of Bugley. From other documents in which William de Bugley is mentioned in connection with the Manor of Gillingham, he seems to have been a person of some substance as Hutchins suggests (History of Dorset, 3rd Edition, p.624) though Bugley was never a separate parish. Fagersten says that this would seem to mean ‘Bucge’s Clearing’ (Old English – leah).
Anton Fagersten (The Place-Names of Dorset-Inaugural Dissertation – Univ. of Uppsala 1933); Introduction to Dorset Place-Names) Gillingham Local History Society 2002 booklet.
Henry Deane, Vicar of Gillingham recalls, in his notes on the history of the town (1850’s), that when excavation were going on at Bugley for the railway (approaching Weston Tunnel and in a deep cutting), evidence of Roman cremations were found in the form of ovens that had been subjected to intense heat. In them were remains of charred human bones.
Gylla’s Hometown by Charles Howe
