A full colour book of 100 pages with 21 illustrations
Written by Roger Claxton
Most people locally are familiar with Charlotte Larpent’s significant contributions to Leusdon Parish, including the building and endowment of Leusdon School and Leusdon Church.
As well as describing the background to these achievements, this book explores Charlotte’s earlier life in Kent and Surrey and what led her to Devon and her interest in Leusdon.
This journey takes us from the Surrey Hills to Watcombe, in the parish of St. Marychurch (now a part of Torquay, Devon), and thence to Spitchwick Manor before finally settling in the moorland hamlet of Leusdon.
Charlotte’s contribution to the creation of Leusdon School is explored, before the book examines some primary sources that help explain the background to the sub-division of the parish of Widecombe that created the ecclesiastical parish of Leusdon, and the building of Leusdon Church.
Sold in aid of Leusdon and Holmwood Churches
Copies may be available from Leusdon and Holmwood Churches or can be purchased from Amazon.
Produced by the Widecombe Study & Research Group.
To Order Your Own Copy of the Book:
Our own printed copies are not currently available for sale. We hope to have more soon.
Most of our own printed copies have been donated to Leusdon and Holmwood Churches. They may still have copies available. Please contact the churches directly to enquire.
However, you can buy a hardback, paperback or Kindle edition of the book through Amazon UK using the links on the right.
You can also now buy these editions in most other Amazon marketplaces.
Search for ‘B0DBQYZ9CT’ for the Kindle version, ‘B0DNSQVNJX’ for the paperback, and ‘B0DLPCJ1F5’ for the hardcover in your preferred location.
Synopsis
Charlotte Larpent is a revered figure in Widecombe Parish, where her building and endowment of Leusdon School and Leusdon Church during the 1850s and 60s are well-known. This book examines the events surrounding those achievements and fills in some details of her earlier life. How did Charlotte, who was born in Kent and spent her married life near Dorking in Surrey, find her way to Devon and to provide such enduring support to a remote rural community on Dartmoor? This book attempts to answer these questions. We shall see how her Devon philanthropy was preceded by similar good work at Holmwood near Dorking, and it was, perhaps, her closeness to her family that influenced her so much.
Supplementary Material
There is a growing amount of supplementary material for this book available through the following link: