The Langleigh estate, situated on the western side of Ilfracombe was jointly owned in the Victorian era by the two surviving widows of the McRoberts brothers. One was called Elizabeth McRoberts and the other was Elizabeth Smith, the latter having remarried twice. The estate covered an area of one hundred acres and consisted of Langleigh Farm, Langleigh Manor and the latest addition being Langleigh Park House.

Elizabeth McRoberts lived at Langleigh Manor with her French-born housekeeper, Rose, whom she legally adopted as her daughter. A local builder, William Dendle, lodged at the Manor whilst he was building Langleigh Park House. He married Rose on 10th September 1885.

In 1896 Elizabeth McRoberts died leaving all her share of her estate to her adopted daughter, Rose, William Dendle's wife. The estate was called - in legal terms - an undivided moiety. Meaning that the two widows each owned fifty per cent of the whole estate.

On 25th March 1897 a Deed of Partition was drawn up between the parties and their respective legal representatives. Basically, Elizabeth Smith got Langleigh Manor and thirty acres of land; the remainder of the estate which comprised Langleigh Farm, the newly completed Langleigh Park House, Cleave cottage and some seventy acres of farmland went to the Dendles who had to give Elizabeth Smith £3,500 as compensation for them receiving the larger share of the estate. The access road running through the estate which was a public footpath was also divided up to the centre according to who owned the land bordered by the footpath but granting each full right of way over each other's sections.

The Dendles raised a mortgage of £3,500 at the time of the partition and again in 1908 the Dendles raised another mortgage of £716. They continued to prosper until the Great War when the number of visitors declined as well as William Dendle probably having difficulties with his building business. By 1919 the Dendles appeared in the High Court for not paying their mortgage. They overcame this difficulty by selling some land and remortgaging their property.

In June 1922 Rose Dendle died aged 65 and William Dendle had a problem over his wife's inheritance. This was settled in William Dendle's favour in the High Court and he then sold Langleigh Farm to a William Baker.

In 1923 on August 6th, the bank holiday weekend, a disastrous fire swept through Langleigh Park House causing considerable damage. The hotel was later rebuilt taking the shape it is today.

In 1933 William Dendle now aged 78 mortgaged his property to a family from South Devon called Henley for £2,500. With the outbreak of the Second World War William Dendle now aged 85 decided to hand over his property to the mortgagors, the Henleys. This was probably a wise move considering his age and very little prospect of selling his property at the time.

During the war years the Henleys having sold off Cleave Cottage in 1941 for £500 and some land in Broad Park for a similar sum leased the hotel to Lilian Esther Lewis who looked after 12 evacuees as well as running it for paying guests. In September 1944 she acquired the hotel as well as the adjoining woodland. By now this part of the estate had shrunk to 20 acres.

In 1950 she sold the property to a Mr Trippas a retired baker from the Midlands. He sold the property in 1953 to a builder called Grossey who in turn sold it to another couple of builders called Flynn and Storer in 1964. The following year they sold to Walter Puddick. Mr Flynn and his wife returned to London while Mr Storer and his family bought Combe Lodge in Ilfracombe as well continuing his building business. Mr Puddick sold the hotel in 1978 to a Mr Walsh and Mrs Sullivan who lasted until 1983 when they sold to two families called the Alfords and the Hones. A year or so later the Alfords acquired the Hones' half and have continued to run the hotel to this day for more than 20 years.

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