Monkleigh is a village, parish and former manor in north

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, situated 2 1/2 miles north-west of

Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...

and 3 1/2 miles south-east of

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

. An electoral ward exists titled ''Monkleigh'' and

Littleham Littleham is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of north Devon in south west England, about south of Bideford. The parish had a population of 446 at the 2011 census. The parish is bounded by the River Torridge in the north-ea ...

. The population at the 2011 census was 1,488.

Etymology

The name of the village, Monkleigh, originates from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

"Munckenelegh", used in 1244 to describe a "wood or clearing of the monks", referring to a 12th-century property owned by the

Montacute Priory Montacute Priory was a Cluniac priory of the Benedictine order in Montacute, Somerset, England. History It was founded between 1078 and 1102 by William, Count of Mortain, in face of a threat that if he did not do so, the King would take the land ...

. The area was previously named "Lega" in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086.

Description

In 1887,

John Bartholomew John Bartholomew (25 December 1831 – 29 March 1893) was a Scottish cartographer. Life Bartholomew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, John Bartholomew Sr., started a cartographical establishment in Edinburgh, and he was educated ...

, Gazetteer of the British Isles, described Monkleigh as a village and a parish. It had a population of 540 people, covered 2177 acres, and had property that belonged to the Montacute monastery. It includes the hamlets of Saltern Cottages (also known as Annery Cottages) and

Annery kiln Annery kiln is a former limekiln of the estate of Annery, in the parish of Monkleigh, North Devon. It is situated on the left bank of the River Torridge near Half-Penny Bridge, built in 1835,Scrutton, Sue, Lord Rolle's Canal, Great Torrington, 2 ...

s, both of which are historic listed sites. Located west of the

River Torridge The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristo ...

valley, the village sits on high ground with scenic views of the parish. It was originally part of the

Shebbear Hundred Shebbear Hundred was the name of one of the thirty-two 19th century hundreds of Devon, England. The hundred of Shebbear was organized by the 13th century with many of the parishes of the ancient Domesday hundred of Merton.Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

's Deanery of Hartland.

History

Monastery

William, Count of Mortain William of Mortain (bef. 1084–aft. 1140) was Count of Mortain and the 3rd Earl of Cornwall. Life William was the son of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of William I of England and Maud de Montgomery, daughter of Roger de Montgomeri ...

, the founder of the

, gave the Monkleigh manor to the priory during the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

(1100–1135). It was owned by the Montacute Priory in Somerset until the Dissolution of the Monasteries (between 1536 and 1541).

Monkleigh manor

When the monasteries were dissolved, the manor was granted by the crown ''gratis'' on 26 August 1540 to James and Anne Coffyn (also Coffin) of

Alwington Alwington is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The parish is on the coast and includes the hamlets of Alwington, Fairy Cross, Ford, Knotty Corner and Woodtown. The parish has a total population of 381 (2001 ...

for the term of her life. Anne was the widow of Sir George St Ledger of Annery. In June 1544, the crown granted the manor of Monkleigh to Sir John Fulford of Dunsford and Humphrey Colles of Barton, Somerset, who paid the purchase price for the manor and obtained royal licence to alienate to James Coffyn. In other words, the manor was purchased for the Coffyns. In 1810 the manor of Monkleigh was owned by Rev. John Pine-Coffin of Portledge, Alwington, from the same family as James Coffyn. About 1823 Richard Pine-Coffin sold Monkleigh manor land to

John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1750 – 3 April 1842) was a British peer who served as a Member of Parliament in general support of William Pitt the Younger and was later an active member of the House of Lords. His violent attacks on Edmun ...

for the development of the

Rolle Canal The Rolle Canal (or Torrington Canal) in north Devon, England, extends from its mouth into the River Torridge at Landcross 6 miles southwards to the industrial mills and corn-mills at Town Mills, Rosemoor, Great TorringtonLost can ...

Annery, historic estate

The former historic estate of Annery was a neo-Classical mansion house that stood in a "fine timbered park" dating back to the 13th century or before. An early owner was Osbert of Annery. By 1260 the house was owned by the Stapeldons;

Walter de Stapeldon Walter de Stapledon (or Stapeldon) (1 February 126114 October 1326) was Bishop of Exeter 1308–1326 and twice Lord High Treasurer of England, in 1320 and 1322. He founded Exeter College, Oxford and contributed liberally to the rebuilding of Ex ...

was born in the Annery that year and later became the

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

from 1307 to 1326 and

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

Lord High Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...

. After the Stapeldons, it was owned by Sir

William Hankford Sir William Hankford KB (or Hankeford) (c. 1350 – 1423) of Annery in Devon, was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423. Origins His parentage is not known, but he came from a gentry family which origin ...

. The Annery fell into decay and in 1800 a new building was built on the grounds of the medieval building. It was demolished in 1957. The ruins of the lime

, built about 1823–1824 for Lord Rolle, are located along the

. Limestone was brought from Caldy Island and

Gower Peninsula Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

Church of St George

In the early 15th century parish church is dedicated to

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

. Sir

, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, left monies for the church to complete construction of the south aisle in his will. He stipulated that the south aisle should be reserved for his and his heirs burial. Hankford died in 1423; at that time the fabric was being rebuilt. Hankford was buried in a canopied alter-tomb. The Annery aisle has bench-ends decorated with the arms of the Annery manor families and emblems of the Passion. Tiles from the late medieval period are found in the aisle and the nave. A kneeling effigy of James Coffin, Esquire (1566) in armour sat on a high tomb and was since destroyed. Pevsner stated that a small

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...

of a kneeling knight, affixed to a stone tablet, and with heraldic escutcheons of the arms of Coffin, is dated from the 16th century. Sir James St. Leger (1509) is represented in brass. From 1862 to 1863 the church was restored. According to Pevsner, it contains one of the most remarkable medieval wooden screens in Devon; It is a detailed

parclose A parclose screen is a screen or railing used to enclose or separate-off a chantry chapel, tomb or manorial chapel, from public areas of a church, for example from the nave or chancel. It should be distinguished from the chancel screen which sep ...

screen that may date to 1537 when Dame Anne St. Leger founded a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

in the chapel. File:JamesCoffinMonumentMonkleighDevon.JPG, 16th century mural monument believed to be James Coffin, surrounded by escutcheons of the Coffin arms File:JamesCoffinBrassDetailMonkleighDevon.JPG, Detail of 16th. century monumental brass believed to be James Coffin File:CoffinArmsMonkleighChurchDevon.JPG, Arms of Coffin family, lords of the manor of Monkleigh

Other historic buildings

Some of the other historic buildings in Monkleigh include the early 19th century Monkleigh Millhouse; an early 19th-century country house, Petticombe Manor; Rudha Bridge Millhouse; The Bell Inn, originally built in the 17th century; and farmhouses, cottages, outbuildings, and bridges.

Transportation

Roads

Monkleigh is served by A388 road.

Ferry

A ferry operates between

quay and

Lundy Island Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...

, which lies about away in the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

. The same ship, the MS ''Oldenburg'', also provides evening cruises from Bideford along the

Bus

There are several bus services provided by Stagecoach Devon, Carmel Coaches and Jackett bus services as of May 2013, including: * 85 – Bude to Barnstaple * 85 – Holsworthy to Barnstaple * 85C – St Giles on the Heath to Sticklepath (Barnstaple Petroc North Devon College) * 646 – Halwill Junction to Barnstaple * X85 – Barnstaple to Plymouth

Railway

The nearest railway stations are at

Umberleigh Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it becam ...

, Chapelton and

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

Airports

The nearest airports for public transportation are

Eaglescott Airfield Eaglescott Airfield is located in Burrington, east southeast of Great Torrington, in Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settle ...

and

Exeter International Airport Exeter Airport , formerly ''Exeter International Airport'', is an international airport located at Clyst Honiton in East Devon, close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England. Exeter has a CAA Public Use Aerodr ...

Education

Monkleigh Primary School conducts 3 mixed age classes within the town of Monkleigh. Other nearby schools are Langtree Community School And Nursery Unit, East-The-Water Community Primary School, Buckland Brewer Community Primary School, Pynes Infant School And Nursery and West Croft Junior School.

Notable people

, Chief Justice of the King's Bench * John St. Leger, Member of Parliament *