Toponymy
Selly Oak was formerly known as Escelie. The name Selly is derived from variants of "scelf-lei" or shelf-meadow, that is pasture land on a shelf or terrace of land, probably the glacial deposits formed after the creation and later dispersal of Lake Harrison during the Quaternary period.
The Oak element of the name Selly Oak comes from a prominent Oak tree that formerly stood at the crossroads of the Bristol Road and Oak Tree Lane/Harborne Lane. The original spot is still commemorated by an old Victorian street sign above one of the shops on the north-side of Oak Tree Lane, which declares it to be "Oak Tree Place" and has the date of 1880.
Read more about this topic: Selly Oak