Halwell and Moreleigh is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

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. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It comprises the villages of

Halwell Halwell is a village, former parish and former manor in Devon, South West England. It is presently administered by the civil parish of Halwell and Moreleigh, itself administered by South Hams district council. In 1961 the civil parish had a po ...

and

Moreleigh Moreleigh or Morleigh (formerly Morley) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Halwell and Moreleigh, in the South Hams, district, in the county of Devon, England. In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 102. History ...

History

The civil parish was formed in 1988 by the amalgamation of the former separate civil parishes of Halwell and Moreleigh.

Halwell

During the Saxon era Halwell was one of the four

burh A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constr ...

s, or fortified settlements, established in Devon by King Alfred the Great (d.899), King of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

from 871 to 899, to defend against invasion by Vikings.

Moreleigh

The manor of Moreleigh is listed 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 manus ...

of 1086 as ''Morlei'', the 16th of the 22 Devonshire holdings of Alfred the Breton, one of the

Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief The Domesday Book of 1086 lists in the following order the tenants-in-chief in Devonshire of King William the Conqueror: * Osbern FitzOsbern (died 1103), Bishop of Exeter *Geoffrey de Montbray (died 1093), Bishop of Coutances * Glastonbury Church, ...

of King

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

. In the 13th century the courthouse of

Stanborough Hundred Stanborough Hundred was the name of one of thirty two ancient administrative units of Devon, England. The parishes in the hundred were: Buckfastleigh, Churchstow, Dartington, Dean Prior, Diptford, East Allington, Holne, Kingsbridge, Loddiswel ...

was situated above the New Inn. The Church of All Saints in Moreleigh had been built by 1239.

Description

Halwell and Moreleigh comprises the villages of Halwell and Moreleigh (also spelled Morleigh), approximately ½ mile apart. The parish has approximately 650 residents.http://www.halwellmoreleigh.co.uk/
"Welcome to the Halwell & Moreleigh Community Web Site, the friendly villages of the South Hams." Halwell & Moreleigh Community Web Site. Retrieved 12 - 5 - 2014.

Location

Halwell and Moreleigh is situated in the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

, England. It lies 5 miles (8 km) south of

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...

, 6 miles (11 km) west of Dartmouth and 5 miles north of

Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the ab ...

. Halwell and Moreleigh is surrounded, starting north and following the clock, by the parishes of

Harberton Harberton is a village, civil parish and former manor 3 miles south west of Totnes, in the South Hams District of Devon, England. The parish includes the village of Harbertonford situated on the main A381 road. In the 2001 census the parish ...

Ashprington Ashprington is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England. The village is not far from the River Dart, but high above it, and is about three miles south of Totnes. There is a local pub, hotel and phonebox. The ci ...

Cornworthy Cornworthy is a village and civil parish in the South Hams, Devon, England. The hamlet of East Cornworthy lies due east of the village at . The nearby Cornworthy Priory, originally established for nuns of the order of St. Austin, is now a G ...

Blackawton Blackawton is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 647. ''Blackawton'' is a major part of the West Dart electoral ward. The ward's population at the 2 ...

, East Allington, Woodleigh and

Diptford Diptford is a village in the county of Devon, England. It is perched on a hill overlooking the River Avon. The name is believed to come from "deep ford", referring to the local site of a river crossing. The village is mentioned in the Domesday ...

Notes

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