West Leake (/liːk/) is a small conservation[1] village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire.

The parish of West Leake is 1,589 acres (643 ha; 6.43 km2; 2.483 sq mi) in total.

To the north east and west of the village are areas of gypsum, with clay and limestone in the eastern part.

The Kingston brook flows from east to west through the parish, just south of the village.

The Domesday Book listing is divided into four holdings which encompass what are today East and West Leake.

The first property is listed to Henry de Ferrers[8] by the King as Tenant in Chief, and Lord.

The holding was inventoried to include 2 villagers, land for 0.5 ploughlands, 2 lord's plough teams.

[9] The last listing has taxable value 0.1 geld units, and includes 2 freemen, land for 0.5 ploughlands, 1 men's plough team.

Henry Balfour Hamilton became the first rector of West Leake in 1882 after the death of the previous incumbent.

...When the benefice was separated into two in 1876, Lord Belper purchased the advowson of West Leake.

There has never been a purpose-built nonconformist meeting house in West Leake although many of the surrounding parishes had both Baptist and Methodist chapels.

[3] The oldest part of the present church is the Norman north wall[3] which dates back to the 12th century.

White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, written in 1853, describes St. Helena's Church as follows:[4]The church is a low, ancient edifice, dedicated to St Helen, with chancel, side aisle, and ivy mantled belfry, in which are two bells.

The feast is held on the Sunday after Martinmas.John Throsby, writing during 1790 in his new edition of Robert Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire, describes St. Helena's Church as:[5]The Church, which is dedicated to St. Helen, has a nave, side aisles, two bells, and is a low structure.

In the chancel wall is a mutilated figure of a Lady, in stone.—Here is a monument to the memory of Thomas Mansfield, Esq.

Col. Hemington, of the first Regiment of Foot Guards.— In a nich of the north wall, near the pulpit, lies an old figure in stone, well preserved; and near the door is one seemingly much older.

[16] The lych gate at the entrance to the churchyard of St. Helena's church dates back to 1919 and serves as a World War I memorial; it is a timber construction with a roof of Swithland slate.

[3] The Old Rectory is dated 1723; the emblem of the Stanhope family is thought to be visible on the west wall.

[11] A school was built in 1850 by the owner of the village Lord Belper, of the neighbouring parish Kingston on Soar.

It was noted by local writers that until the Elementary Education Act of 1880 absenteeism was great as children stayed away to labour with their parents.

Local writers state that Lady Belper, concerned with the poor living standards of children in the village, provided bread and cheese in the school.

The first post office, located at the junction of Main Street and Dark Lane, was opened in 1891, but soon closed.

[2] There is a public house called The Star which is situated just outside the village, on the other side of the Kingston Brook on Melton Lane (and therefore in the parish of Sutton Bonington).

[citation needed] The Member of Parliament for the parliamentary constituency of Rushcliffe is Kenneth Clarke, of the Conservative party, who has held the seat since 1970.

[25] The most recent election was in May 2017, when Andy Brown and Reg Adair, both of the Conservative party, won the two available seats.

The most recent election was on 7 May 2015 when Ronald Hetherington, Margaret Males and John Thurman, all of the Conservative party, won the three available seats.

[3] The building is managed by a charity called West Leake Village Hall.

[33] The nearest pub is The Star, known locally as The Pit House,[34] which is just located in the neighbouring civil parish of Sutton Bonington.