Monument record 1662 - Handley

The placename Hanley was first mentioned in 1269, as Lyme Hanley in 1478 and Lyme in Hanley in 1527 (ie the mansion house of Lyme Park in Handley). Handley has been suggested as a deserted medieval village. Medieval and later villages were abandoned by their inhabitants for many reasons. The effects of disease and poor harvests made rural living difficult, and whole communities are thought to have relocated to urban settlements. Landowners sometimes relocated settlements for aesthetic reasons and for landscaping. Once abandoned the villages quickly became derelict and were not inhabited again surviving only as earthworks, often visible only from aerial photographs. They can also be identified by documentary evidence or the presence of a church where there is no settlement.