Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Berstow (in Suthowrum) 1408 1542 YDiii

• Berestow 1411 YDv 1420 Lister

• Berestawe 1445 YDv

• Barestoweʒ 1492 YDiii

• Barestowe 1605 HAS

• Bair(e)stow(e) 1526 YDiii 1791 M 1836 Lister

Etymology

Bairstow (lost), Berstow (in Suthowrum )1408 YD v, Lister , 1542 YD iii, Berestow 1411 YD v, 1420Lister , Berestawe 1445 YD v, Barestoweʒ 1492 YD iii, Barestowe 1605 HAS 21, 130, Bair (e )stow (e )1526 YD iii, 1791M , 1836Lister . The spellings for this p.n. and Bairstow in Sowerby Bridge 141infra cannot always be kept apart. Both are of the same origin. This seems likely to be OE  beger 'berry' (which could be represented in local orthography as baire - or bare -, cf. Phonol. § 11) and stōw 'place'; the exact significance of stōw , a rare el. in YW, is difficult, but there is some later evidence for the sense 'track' or 'passage'. The names would denote 'place where berries grew or were cultivated' or something like 'track through the berries'; the former seems preferable, and would be paralleled by Bay Storrs and Berristal Head i, 231supra (with stede and stall instead of stōw ).