English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Countess Wear

Early-attested site in the Parish of Topsham

Etymology

Countess Wear takes its name from Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, earl of Devon. She held the manor of Topsham and according to LGS (157) constructed the weir c. 1284 to injure the trade of the city of Exeter, she having been offended by the citizens of that place for some petty reason.

Places in the same Parish