White's Devonshire Directory (1850)

LEIGH, (WEST) a village and parish, on the east side of the estuary of the Torridge, 2 miles N. by E. of Bideford, has 526 inhabitants, and 2456 acres of land, including East Leigh and Southcott hamlets, and many scattered houses. Mrs. Torr, of Torville, is lady of the manor of West Leigh, ( See also family history pages ) and owner of the Barton of East Leigh. Tapley, or Taplegh, a handsome mansion, with tasteful grounds, is the seat of Mrs. Clevland, and belongs to her son, Archibald Clevland, a minor. L.W. Buck, Esq., and several smaller owners, have estates in the parish. The Church (St. Peter,) is an ancient structure, and the living is a vicarage, valued in K.B. at £8. 2s. 1d., and in 1831 at £170, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The Rev. D. Lang, B.A., is the incumbent, and has a neat residence, erected in 1837, and 45A. of glebe. The Wesleyans have a chapel here, built in 1841. . . " [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

Devon by W.G.Hoskins

1954

WESTLEIGH  is a village on the E. slopes of the Torridge estuary. Both East and West Leigh were Domesday manors. So, too, was Tapeley, which is now a Georgian mansion in a large park. Eastleigh, now a farmhouse, was the Berry mansion from about 1500 to 1802. Southcott Barton is a good example of an Elizabethan "mansion," with decorative plaster ceilings in some of the rooms and other contemporary features.

The church (St. Peter), at the head of the village, was built c. 1300 with a wide nave and chancel. Aisles were added c. 1500. A number of excellent carved bench-ends of this date remain in the nave. There are monuments to the Clevlands of Tapeley.

Table of Population