West Alvington is located within South Hams local authority area. Historically it formed part of Stanborough Hundred. It falls within Woodleigh 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 655 in 1801 940 in 1901 . Figures for other years are available on the local studies website. The lay subsidy of 1524 valued the community at £13/13/04. In 1641/2 174 adult males signed the Protestation returns. It is recorded as a borough from 1272. A market is recorded from 14 cent..

A parish history file is held in Kingsbridge 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 West Alvington 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 136/2 Six inch (1:10560) sheet 136NW
The National Grid reference for the centre of the area is SX724438. On the post 1945 National Grid Ordnance Survey mapping the sheets are: 1:10,000 (six inch to a mile: sheet SX74SW, 1:25,000 mapping: sheet Outdoor Leisure 20, Landranger (1:50,000) mapping: sheet 202. Geological sheet 355 also covers the area.
A fair is known from: 14 cent.. [It is intended to include the local section from The glove is up! Devon's historic fairs, by Tricia Gerrish, by kind permission of the author].

Extract from Devon by W.G.Hoskins (1954), included by kind permission of the copyright holder:

WEST ALVINGTON stands boldly on a hill overlooking Kingsbridge, commanding wide views towards the sea. This site determined its early occupation, probably not much later than 700. It was a royal estate in 1066 and was alienated from the crown by Henry I. The parish originally included all the land as far as the sea, for Malborough, Salcombe, South Huish, and South Milton were all chapelries of Alvington in medieval times. The present parish church (All Saints) is a noble 15th century building in the hard green local slate, with a fine pinnacled tower. The lofty arcades are of Beer stone, brought by water. The church possessed until its restoration in 1866-67 a medieval rood-screen across nave and aisles, complete with rood-loft and a pulpit on top of that. In the chancel is a canopied Easter sepulchre, formerly a tomb.