Elburton

"Elburton - Ael - celtic, a brow or commanding spot. Bur (Saxon) dwelling, also storehouse (as in Farming ..) ton or tan (Saxon) primarily an enclosed space (as for agricultural purposes) a village ... According to this the above name will imply a dwelling, farm or barn having the quality of being located on the brow of a hill and so the present village grown up probably from a single habitation or a barn really is." So says Bellamy in his manuscript - History of Plymstock written in the 1840s.

More recently however in the Place Names of Devon we find Elburton explained as probably being 'Aepelbeorht's' farm or 'tun'. Aepelbeorht or Aepelberht presumably being the name of an early, if not the first, owner of this farmland. The first known spelling of the name we have is Aliberton and that appears in 1254. Later variations are Ailberton (1423) Aylberton (1480) and in 1485 Elberton.