Bondleigh
Bondleigh is located within West Devon local authority area. Historically it formed part of North Tawton Hundred. It falls within Chulmleigh Deanery for ecclesiastical purposes. The Deaneries are used to arrange the typescript Church Notes of B.F.Cresswell which are held in the Westcountry Studies Library. The population was 286 in 1801 143 in 1901 . Figures for other years are available on the local studies website.In 1641/2 64 adult males signed the Protestation returns.
A parish history file is held in Okehampton Library. You can look for other material on the community by using the place search on the main local studies database. Further historical information is also available on the Genuki website
Maps: The image below is of the Bondleigh area on Donn's one inch to the mile survey of 1765.
On the County Series Ordnance Survey mapping the area is to be found on 1:2,500 sheet 53/11 Six inch (1:10560) sheet 53SE
The National Grid reference for the centre of the area is SS652049. On the post 1945 National Grid Ordnance Survey mapping the sheets are: 1:10,000 (six inch to a mile: sheet SS60SE, 1:25,000 mapping: sheet Explorer 113, Landranger (1:50,000) mapping: sheet 191. Geological sheet 324 also covers the area.
Extract from Devon by W.G.Hoskins (1954), included by kind permission of the copyright holder:
BONDLEIGH is in the pleasant, unknown country of the upper Taw valley. The church (St. James) has some interesting Norman work, including a S. doorway with tympanum, and two richly carved portions of late 12th century capitals built into the E. wall of the aisle. The Norman church was rebuilt in the late 15th to early 16th century; and much reconstruction was done in the 17th century. The fine tower is of granite below (probably 15th century), but has been rebuilt above in the local brown dunstone. The 17th century work included the remodelling of the windows of the aisle (except the E. window) and the insertion of a number of square ended benches, some plain and some roughly carved. The nave and aisle have their original wagon-roofs with carved bosses, and there is some late 15th century glass portraying figures of the Annunciation.
