Lee Moor

Lee Moor is a china clay village in the parish of Shaugh Prior, on the south-western edge of Dartmoor. It lies inside the parish but outside Dartmoor National Park. The nearest sizeable town is Ivybridge, about 7 miles away by road.

The parish history records that clay production at Lee Moor began in 1830, when the clay rights of the Earl of Morley were leased, and William Phillips took over the lease in 1833. He built a leat bringing water from the River Plym, adits to carry the wet clay, and brickworks. A tramway ran down to Plymouth. John Warrick had found clay at Whitehill Tor as early as 1827, and iron mines worked in the parish briefly between 1870 and 1874. Kelly's Directory for 1883 lists five clay works and manufacturers in the Lee Moor area.

Shaugh Prior was unusual among Devon parishes in growing in the 19th century, almost all of it at Lee Moor and nearby Wotter. The parish population was 554 in 1851 and 783 in 1906, and in 1913 about 400 people worked in the clay works at Lee Moor alone. The company ECC was formed by a merger in 1919, and the parish history says it still owns the pits. A South Hams guide lists a public hall but no pub or restaurant in the village. Pre-1830 history of the settlement is not covered in the sources found.