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.

Bul Barrow

Early-attested site in the Parish of Woolland

Historical Forms

  • Buleberwe 1270 Roscoe
  • on burg 833 ShaftR(S277) 14

Etymology

Bul Barrow (tumulus) (ST 776057) [ˈbuːbər], Bulbarrow Hill, Buleberwe 1270 Roscoe (a point in the bounds of Blackmoor Forest, wrongly transcribed Huleberwe in Hutch3 479), Bulbarowe 1545Prideaux , Bulbaro 1555Prideaux , Bulborowe 1566Prideaux , Bulborough 1569Prideaux , Bull Barrow 1771DROMap , Bulbarrow 1811 OS, v. beorg 'barrow'; first el. apparently bula 'bull' (cf. Bulbury Camp 233 where Bul - has a different origin), thought by Hutch3 4 358 to be possibly applied in a transferred sense to imply 'hugeness', or an OE  pers.n. Bula .Bul Barrow itself is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon bounds of Woolland as on burg 833 (14) ShaftR (S 277), where the form probably shows confusion of beorg with burh 'fortified place'.