PLACE NAME
Paisley Abbey, today a parish church in the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland, was built under the orders of Walter fitz Alan, the first High Steward of Scotland, in 1163. Its first monks came from Shropshire. Recorded as Pasilege in 1182, and Paslie in 1214, the origin of the name is uncertain. It could derive from the Celtic word pasgill, meaning pasture, or from Passeleg which comes from the Greek word basilica meaning important church. Alternatively, from an Old English personal name, Pæssa and leāh, the word for wood or woodland clearing. Paisley grew so rapidly that it acquired the status of an abbey in the 13thCentury, answerable only to the Pope in Rome. It was closed in 1560 at the Scottish Reformation, and while most of its buildings transferred into private ownership, part of the nave was kept as the parish church. Like many of the roads on the St Helier’s estate this is named after British monasteries and abbeys in remembrance of the area’s historic ownership by Westminster Abbey. The road names are in alphabetical order, of which Aberconway Road in the north west of the estate is first.
