Warleigh Point

The earliest known spelling of Warleigh appears to be from 1272 when it appears as Wardlegh and it is thought therefore that the name is made up of two elements "weard" and "leah" and that taken literally Warleigh originally meant "a watch or watching place in a clearing in the woods".

Certainly the local topography lends itself well to such an explanation. Warleigh Wood even now provides an excellent concealed vantage point for watching the country across the other side of the Tamar and the name was probably first used when, as far as the Saxons were concerned, the Celts in Cornwall were fiercely independent and outwardly hostile.

Not all authorities favour this explanation however and alternatives include "clearing on the river bank" (with the "war" from "warop") or, as in the Somerset Warleigh, "clearing by a weir".