The Lawn was formerly a swampy estuary, over which in ancient times the tide flowed. About 1800, Mr. John Edye Manning came into possession of this land and proceeded to reclaim it by raising the level, principally with the earth excavated in making Queen Street and Park Street.

At the end of the 18th century, the unreclaimed valley, then known as Tunnicliffe Waste, stretched from the sea up as far as the Church Street bridge and Town Mill. There were few buildings facing it, except around Beach Street and Mill Row, until about 1786, when Pleasant Row was built, and the York Hotel first licensed (as Tripe's 'New Inn'). Tunnicliffe Waste was later to be the site of Old Dawlish, including the Manor and its grounds.