In a grant of between 899 and 909 Edward the Elder gave the land then known as "Weolingtun", which means "wealthy estate", along with West Buckland and Bishops Lydeard to Bishop Asser. This was in exchange for the monastery of Plympton in Devon. An alternative explanation for the origin of the name is "the settlement in the temple clearing". By the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, the name had changed to "Walintone" and the estate was owned by Gisa (Bishop of Wells). The parish of Wellington was part of the Kilmersdon Hundred,