Bassenthwaite And "Begakirk"
From Bassingthwaighte by G B Bassingthwaighte (December 1977)

"Begakirk" was the old name of the village of Bassenthwaite. The old parish church of Bassenthwaite was dedicated to St.Bega (Bega is the latin form of Bee.) Nothing is more common than for a parish to be named after the patron saint, and in the north "Kirk" stands for "Church". So for a time this parish was called "Begakirk".

In the will of Adam de Bastenthwayt, who died "Saturday after the feast of St. Lucy" (December 13th) 1358, he, as the manorial lord of Bassenthwaite, expressed a wish for his body to be buried in the Cloister of the Abbey of Holme Cultram, near that of his father and mother, and in return for the performance of the funeral rites he leaves the curate of "Santa Bega de Bastenthwayt" his "better horse".

So although for a time this parish was called "Begakirk", in the end the name of its founder proved more popular than that of its patron saint and so "Begakirk" gave place to Bassenthwaite.

The latter, by letter from the Rev. R. Jack Edmondson, The Vicarage, Bassenthwaite, Keswick. 23rd September, 1955.