Briarleigh House formerly Rock

The quest for information started on February 29^th 2000 when Chris Robinson wrote about Briarleigh Close in the Evening Herald

From Chris Robinson’s column, The Evening Herald 29 February 2000 –

THE PLACE – Briarleigh Close

Early maps show an isolated farm called Rock above the woods to the west of the Plym, some distance north of Leigham House and immediately south of ‘Eastover’

It wasn’t until the second half of the 20^th century that this rural tranquillity was shattered and the developers moved in.

A delightful Georgian residence, later christened Briarleigh, had been built on the old farm site at Rock, in appearance a little like a very small-scale Saltram House, and it remained occupied until 1965.

The corporation bought the house, but plans to demolish it were suspended when it was apparently discovered the house was scheduled as being of architectural significance.

However, in 1967 a decision was taken to demolish on the grounds that “the present state” of the building did not make it an appropriate prospect for restoration.

Briarleigh Close has since been constructed on a part of the original farm site.

We had been told by a neighbour that there used to be a house in the field behind our bungalow in Briarleigh Close, and that is why our gardens contain so much ‘rock’, stone and shellet.

We wrote to the Editor and registered our interest in the article and made a request for more information from