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On the A361 (North Devon link road), about half way between Tiverton and South Molton, is a road sign saying “Beaples Barton”. Intrigued by this, I looked it up and found it was a private dwelling (sold not long ago) and was listed in the Domesday Book! I am curious about the origin of the odd sounding name “Beaples”, and wondered if anyone could shed light on that.
Welcome to our forums, OwlHoot!
According to Gover, Mawer & Stenton’s “The Place-Names of Devon” (2 vols, 1931-2), page 340:
Roger Beaupel (i.e. “fine skin”) held the manor in 1276 (Ipm*) and the family name is preserved in Beaple’s Barton, Wood, Manor, Hill and Combe.
* Calendar of Inquisitions post mortem
The PND is an old reference source, but I don’t know of any significant updates to it in the intervening 90 years. It says nothing about a mention in Domesday, and based on the derivation that seems most unlikely. The Beaples are in the parish of Knowstone, which does appear in Domesday, so if your source for the alleged fact was the Beaples Barton sale particulars, it may be one of those never-mind-the-details: earlier-is-better claims!
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