1) Usually said to mean a thicket or copse, but actually dependent on local context.
A word used from the Old English period, usually said to mean a thicket or copse. However, it is actually more complicated than that, and the places so named should always be interpreted in their local context. It probably remained in occasional use as part of the regional vocabulary during earlier centuries, e.g. 1329 ‘land … above le Schaghe near the dike’, Hemsworth. In Tong, it became the name of an early settlement and c.1323 Margery del Schagh was in possession of a house and ‘land in le Schagh in the vill of Tong’: in a deed of the same period it was called le Schaye, an example of a common alternative spelling.