Thanks FourWinds! I certainly agree on the need for care. Many place names are, ultimately, unsolvable mysteries. As I say, I'm simply trying to point out possibilities that are worthy of consideration and that shouldn't be dismissed.

There's another place near me called Horsley. The academic opinion on this one is that its called that because wild horses lived there & that this is where people came, in early times, to tame them. There is absolutely no evidence for this at all, however. No remains of early stables, no unearthed bridles or anything like that, not even a single horse bone. Just the name. They've just jumped to that conclusion because the name seems (to their eyes) to contain the word "horse". In my book I will suggest that its derived from the goddess Hoeur. I will not claim that this is known for sure, however. I'll simply present it as an alternative that is (at least) equally valid to the established reading.

I'm more interested in opening people's minds to possibilities that have not been considered than I am in dogmatically stating "this is certainly the origin of this name" (which is what the academics do, despite the lack of evidence).

As I say, thanks for the advice - its all useful stuff and is very helpful to me.