Leapgate Cottage
Early-attested site in the Parish of Hartlebury
Historical Forms
- of þæm hlypgeat, hlypgeat 980 KCD627 11th
Etymology
Such a gate is defined in the NED as 'a low gate in a fence, which can be leaped by deer, while keeping sheep from straying,' but, as Dr Grundy points out, its true function was to allow the deer to return to their haga when they had come out of it.
The normal development would be Lypiatt, as in the Gloucestershire place of that name. The present form is a modern re- spelling.