Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Beardastapol, Bardastapol, Bardanstapol 979–1016 Coins

• Beardastapol, Beardstapol, Bardastapol 1016–1066 Coins

• Beardastapol 1018 Crawf

• Barnestaple 1086 DB 1158 P

• Barnestaplia t.Hy1 Ch 1316

• Bernestap(e)le 1236 Cl 1345 Fine

• Barnestaple al. Bardestaple 1286 Ipm

• Barnstable 1421 IpmR

• Bardestaple 1107–28 ADvi t.Ed2 France c.1130 P 1159,1160

• Bartestapel 1322 Cl

• Berdestaple 1155 RBE 1326 Ipm

• Bordestaple 1195 FF

• Barestapł, Berestapł 1244 Ass

• Berstaple 1302 Cl

• Ecclesia Barum 1291 Tax

• Barstaple upon the ryver of Severn 1466–84 ECP1,365

• Barstable 1549 Pat 1553 Recov

• Barstable al. Barnstaple 1675 Ogilby

• Bastable 1675 Ogilby

Etymology

This place must clearly be taken with Barnacott infra 69, both alike containing an OE  pers. name *Bearda , which appears in DB as Berda and is clearly evidenced from such OE p.n.'s as Bardney (L), Beardan eu c. 750 Bede, Bardingley (K), beardingaleag (BCS 343) and others quoted by Blomé (10). Blomé notes with Karlström (OE Compound PN 's in -ing , 149) that we have apparently three names in which an element Bearda - is compounded with stapol and considers that this is against a pers. name. He further adduces Beard (Db) in support of a significant interpretation of the name. We may note, however, (i) that even a threefold coincidence is not decisive against a pers. name (cf. Mawer, Problems of PN Study , 86–7), (ii) that the word which lies behind Beard , uniformly Berd (e ) in early forms (PN Db 55), cannot phonologically explain the OE forms of Barnstaple, Bardney, Bardingley, (iii) that Barstable (Ess) and the unidentified field-name Berdestaple may contain the word which lies behind Beard (Db) and not an OE  Beard - at all, for all the early forms of these names have Berde -, so that they are by no means certainly identical with Barnstaple in their origin.Hence, 'Bearda 's stapol'.

The reference 'Barstaple upon the ryver of Severn' is curious.Barnstaple is on the Taw which joins the Torridge and flows into the Bristol Channel. Possibly ports on or near this sea were regarded as being on the Severn, the estuary of which gradually widens to merge into the Bristol Channel. Barum , like Sarum for Salisbury, comes from the common medieval Latin abbreviation for Barnstaple (cf. Zachrisson, Latin Influence 2), and is still found on old milestones on roads leading to Barnstaple.