Bratton Fleming
Major Settlement in the Parish of Bratton Fleming
Historical Forms
- Bratona 1086 DB
- Bratton(e) 1242 Fees796
- Bretton 1285 Pat
Etymology
This place, together with Bratton infra 173, Bratton in Minehead (So) and Bratton (W), offers difficulties. These uniformly show Bratt -forms in ME , except for one Brett -form for this Bratton and the other Devon Bratton, and one for Bratton in Minehead, while Bratton (W), first recorded in the 13th cent., shows 4 out of 9 forms with Brett -. Blomé (13) and Ekblom (PN W 34) derive these names from OE brādatūn , but it is difficult to see how all trace of the d and of the medial vowel should have been lost in these names while all other compounds of brad - show no such phenomenon. Further, this explanation leaves the Bret - forms entirely unexplained. Possibly a ray of light is shed by the form Brakton (1335) for the Somerset p.n. This would suggest a compound of OE bræc , brec , 'strip of uncultivated land,' and tend to confirm the correctness of the form Bracton found once for Bratton Clovelly infra 173. It would also explain the alternation between Bratt - and Brett - forms. Owing to the similarity between c and t in 13th and 14th cent. script, it is difficult to say how far other Bratt -forms should really have been read as Bract -.
Fleming to distinguish from Bratton Clovelly infra 173.Baldwin le Flemeng held the manor in the 13th cent. (1242 Fees, 1249Ass ).