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.

Beestonely

Early-attested site in the Parish of Halifax

Historical Forms

  • Bestonlay (bonke) 13 YDxii,109
  • Bestonley 1646 PREll
  • Bestoner (sic) c.1300 YDi
  • Beestonland 1379 PT
  • Beestons 1714 WYEnr

Etymology

Beestonely, Bestonlay (bonke )13 YD xii, 109, Bestonley 1646 PREll, v. lēah, banke, named from Beestones, Bestoner (sic)c. 1300 YD i, Beestonland 1379 PT (p)Beestons 1714WYEnr , possibly a surname Beeston (perhaps from Beeston 217infra ), as no doubt also in Beestonhirst in Soyland 63infra ; cf. also Bee Stone Field (Hawksworth) and Bee Stone (Menston) pt. iv, Beston (Fewston) pt. v infra . In some of these names we may well have the word bee-stone 'a stone on which wicker beehives were placed' or 'rocks where bees were found'.

Places in the same Parish

Early-attested site

Other OS name

Major Settlement