Burlescombe, Devon

Description
Burlescombe, a parish in Devonshire, under Blackdown, on the Roman Port way from Somerset to Exeter, 170 miles from London on the G.W.R. It includes the tithing of Appledore and the hamlet of Westleigh, and has a post office under Wellington, which is the telegraph office; money order office, Halcombe Rogus. Acreage, 3645 ; population of the civil parish, 719; of the ecclesiastical, 735. An Augustinian priory was founded at Canonsleigh in the time of Henry II. by William de Clarville, conveyed in 1284 to Maud, Countess of Devon, 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. This parish has the privilege of appointing a governor to the Ayshford Grammar School for girls at Uffculme. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £198 with residence. The church is chiefly of the time of Henry VII., was renovated in 1843, contains a beautiful ancient screen and fine monuments of the Ayshfords. An ancient chapel, which has been restored, stands on the Ayshford estate.