George Nympton
Major Settlement in the Parish of George Nympton
Historical Forms
- Limet, Nimet 1086 DB
- Nimet 1249 Ipm
- Nymet(h) Scī Georgii 1281 Ass 1291 Tax 1308 Exon
- Nimid Scī Georgii 1326 Orig
- Nymet Georgii 1345 Exon
- George Nemyton 1523 SR
Etymology
The element Nymet is found in (a ) George Nympton on the Mole and Bishop's Nympton on a tributary of the Mole, and King's Nympton on a hill 1½ miles east of the Bray, (b ) Nymet Rowland on a hill between the Taw and the Yeo, Broadnymet on the Yeo, Nymet Tracy, 1 mile east of the Yeo, Nichols Nymett, 1 mile north of the Yeo, and in Nymph and East Nymph near the source of the Yeo. Elsewhere we find Nymet , Nymede in Somerset charters (BCS 168) referring, as tentatively suggested by Ekwall (RN 305) and confirmed by Grundy (Som. Arch. Soc. 74, 62), to a stream. Nymed is also found in Devon charters referring (BCS 1331) to the Yeo and probably also to the same river elsewhere (BCS 1303). Apart from these names the only other known example of the element is to be found in Nymphsfield (Gl), Nymdesfeld BCS 535, the topography of which makes a stream-name unlikely. It is clear that the element nymet , nymed , found in all these names is cognate with Irish nemed , 'sanctuary,' and goes back to an Old British nemeton , found also in Lanivet (Co)(Lannived , Lanivet 1268 Exon, Lannyvet 1283 FF, Lannevet 1298 FF), which apparently denotes a church (Co lan ) on the site of an earlier heathen sanctuary. It is difficult to know just how this term came to be applied to streams in Devon or to be sure that in every case it is actually a stream-name— group (a ) is less certain than group (b ). Stevenson thought (Crawford Charters 58 ff.) that it might have been used of some large area. v. Addenda, Part ii, xiii.