Inwardleigh is a rural parish in West Devon, about 2 miles north west of Okehampton. There are two main settlements, the villages of Inwardleigh and Folly Gate, and numerous scattered farms and hamlets. The main A386 Okehampton to Hatherleigh and Bideford road runs north-south through the parish.

^{The next meeting of the Parish Council will be the Parishioners meeting on the 21st May 2025 at 7.30pm, everyone is welcome.}

The minutes of the last meeting in March are now online and an attempt to put them on the three noticeboards around the village will occur today (12th April)  If you need any help or a copy of the minutes sent to you please contact the clerk on either 0788 600 491.

^{Pot holes.}

Numerous other pot holes that have been raised at our meetings and reported accordingly, currently Goldburn Cross to Crossways there are numerous pot holes and the diversions mean they have increased in size.  Stocken River bridge is still a problem as there has been a repair to one side of it but not to the other, therefore it is a ongoing safety problem for cars at night. The clerk has contacted both highways and Cllr McInnes (Devon County Councillor) on these matters   If you have a smartphone, please use the link below to report pot holes, it doesnt require any in depth information and perhaps if they receive a lot of reports it might prompt some action. 

^{https://www.devon.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/report-a-problem/map/map_src/poth/#gf_52}

Roadworks, how to find out the latest in your area:-

https://one.network/ click on this link and expand the page and it shows all the roadworks that are currently being carried out. Sadly it doesnt show any emergency roadworks.

Bus timetable Changes:-

Bus timetable changes Service 5A ( Okehampton – Hatherleigh – North Tawton – Crediton – Exeter):

The 13:50 bus operating Monday to Saturday from Okehampton will operate 30 minutes earlier.  

The 16:50 bus operating Monday to Saturday from Exeter, will depart 10 minutes later, to logically follow after a 5 bus, to ensure there is capacity for passengers travelling beyond Crediton.

Inwardleigh appears in the Domesday Book, where it is listed as belonging to Ingvar in 1066. Ingvar was a Viking thegn and member of the court of King Cnut, and held several estates across southern Britain. Inwardleigh – meaning Ingvar’s meadow – is derived from his name.

After the Norman Conquest the estates passed to Baldwin FitzGilbert, who accompanied William at Hastings, and who subsequently administered Devon from Exeter as Sheriff of Devon.

The estates were subsequently owned first by the Coffin or Coffyn family, and then by the Portman family.

St Petroc’s Church was built in the 14th century on an earlier Norman church, and has been restored in the nineteenth century, although much of the earlier building is intact.

Folly Gate, on the main road through the parish, was on the turnpike from Okehampton to Hatherleigh, and may take its name from a nearby house. In 1928 Folly Gate army aerodrome was opened for visiting RAF squadrons. During WW2 it was  a maintenance base and artillery spotter aircraft were based here. The airfield is now decommissioned and returned to agricultural use, but the WAAF quarters remain and have been converted to Folly Gate Village Hall.