Place Name
Shirley Oaks was a development from around the 1970s, the additional Oaks being a reference to the woodland that was previously here, this road (unnamed) was being laid out in the 1950s. Named after the local area it means bright woodland, without a forest canopy blocking the light. It has also been suggested that as the village was not far from the old Surrey/Kent county border, the name may have come from the Old English word for shire but this is thought unlikely. It was mentioned as early as 1314 when it was written as Shirley, which in turn became Shyrley by 1461, and Sherlegh by 1498.
