What is "bircle"

The official parish of Bircle near Bury, UK was created on 1 July 1846 although the village pre-dates this by many centuries. It is often assumed that 'Bircle' is a shortening of the phrase 'Birch Hill' as it is suggested that birch trees are found in abundance. This is very plausible idea until one searches for birch trees and finds the majority of trees in the area are sycamore and ash even where the thickly wooded areas reach the borders of the Parish. Such names such as "Cleggs Wood" "Simpson Clough" and "Dobb Wood" appear on early Ordnance Survey maps. What adds confusion to the whole picture is that 'hill' does appear in the fourteenth century in the name of 'Birkhill' but it never found a permanent place. Over a period of time its name has also appeared as Brithull, 1243; Birlcil, 1246; Birkhill, 1334, 1573; but Bircle appears in the Manchester Diocesan Directory.

Bircle is a village in Greater Manchester. A name which is as ancient as the Domesday Book and certainly dating to many centuries before it became a Parish. Bircle church itself is on Castle Hill Road, Bircle, Bury, Greater Manchester.