River Yeo, Barnstaple prone to flooding both when in spate, but also from the sea. A plan has been put forward to divert the river through a channel in Pilton Park in Barnstaple to alleviate extreme flooding events. River Yeo, Barnstaple The River Yeo is a tributary of the River Taw in Devon, England, sometimes known as the Barnstaple Yeo, which enters the Taw at Barnstaple. It is one of several rivers of the same name in Devon, including another tributary of the Taw, the Lapford Yeo. The Barnstaple Yeo rises on Berry Down, south of Combe Martin, and flows south through the
Barnstaple of the present town. Pilton is recorded in the Burghal Hidage (c. 917) as a burh founded by Alfred the Great, and it may have been the site of a Viking attack in 893, but by the later 10th century Barnstaple had taken over its role of local defence. Barnstaple had its own mint before the Norman Conquest. The large feudal barony of Barnstaple had its caput at Barnstaple Castle. It was granted by William the Conqueror to Geoffrey de Montbray, who is recorded as its holder in Domesday Book. The barony escheated to the crown in 1095 after Montbray