Barstable Hall
Early-attested site in the Parish of Basildon
Historical Forms
- Berdestestapla 1086 DB
- Berdestap(e)le 1240–84 FF 1285 QW
- Berdestap(e)lehall 1391 ADi
- Berstapolhale 1342 Ass
- Barstaple 1361 Cl
Etymology
The second element in this name is stapol, 'post, pillar,' a name well-suited for the meeting-place of a hundred; cf. Thurstable infra 302 and Mawer, PN and History 25. The first element is either a personal name or some significant word. In PN D 25 (s. n. Barnstaple) evidence is set forth for an OE personal name Beard (a ), and it may be that we have that name here. The alternative is to take the first element as some significant word, descriptive of the pillar itself. In favour of this is the fact that Barnstaple (D), the present Barstable, and a lost field Berdestapel (PN BedsHu 298) look as if they had some common significant origin. If that is so, a possible suggestion is that of Karlström (StudNP ii, 68), viz., that the first element is a lost adj. beardede , 'bearded,' descriptive of some distinctive decoration of the post or pillar.