•  Burlescombe, Devon

          Click on the map for other historical maps of this place

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Burlescombe like this:

BURLESCOMBE, a parish in the district of Wellington and county of Devon; under Blackdown, on the Roman Port way from Somerset to Exeter, and on the Great Western canal and the Bristol and Exeter railway 5 miles SW of Wellington. It has a station on the railway, and it includes the tything of Appledore and the hamlet of Westleigh; the former of which has a post office, of the name of Appledore, North Devon. ...

---

Acres, 3,768. Real property, £6,229; of which £700 are in quarries Pop., 856. Houses, 175. The property is subdivided. The manor belongs to E. A. Sandford, Esq An Augustinian priory was founded at Canonsleigh in the time of Henry II., by William de Clarville; conveyed, in 1284, to Maud, Countess of Gloucester, and changed by her into a nunnery; passed, after the dissolution, through a number of hands; and belongs now to the family of Browne. Some small remains of it, including a massive Tudor gateway, still exist. Limestone of superior quality abounds; and great quantities of it are sent off by canal and railway. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £255.* Patron, Rev. T.Tanner. The church is chiefly of the time of Henry VII.; was renovated in 1843; and contains a beautiful ancient screen, and fine monuments of the Ayshfords. An ancient chapel stands on the Ayshford estate; and was recently restored.

Burlescombe through time

Burlescombe is now part of Mid Devon district. Click here for graphs and data of how Mid Devon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Burlescombe itself, go to Units and Statistics.

---

Not where you were looking for?

Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Burlescombe".